Colorado’s best high school softball player lives north of the Denver area.
Haley Donaldson, a senior at Class 5A Fossil Ridge, has been named the state’s Gatorade player of the year. She is the SaberCats’ first winner.
The award includes her softball prowess as well as academics and citizenship.
Donaldson, a 5-foot-7 shortstop, led Fossil Ridge to the state semifinals last fall. The SaberCats finished 16-7-1. Donaldson batted .662 with eight home runs, 34 runs batted in and a 1.169 slugging percentage. She has been all-Front Range League for three seasons.
Graduating with a 3.89 grade-point average, Donaldson has been active coaching on the youth level as well as volunteering at a children’s hospital.
Said longtime Legacy coach Dawn Gaffin: “Donaldson is a great, all-around player and an extremely tough out at the plate. She makes some exceptional plays at shortstop too, the kind you don’t often see from a high school athlete.”
Donaldson will play college softball for Nebraska.
She joins recent Gatorade Colorado players of the year Savannah Heebner (2014-15, Castle View High School), Ally Power (2013-14, Ponderosa), Nickie Blue (2012-13, Niwot), Rainey Gaffin (2011-12 and 2010-11, Legacy), Shelby Babcock, (2009-10 and 2008-09, Legacy) and Mallory Duran (2007–08 and 2006-07, Windsor).
