South Kingstown’s Ben Brutti Named 2022 R.I. Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year

CHICAGO (June 3, 2022) — In its 37th year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, Gatorade today
announced Ben Brutti of South Kingstown High School is the 2021-22 Gatorade Rhode Island Baseball Player of
the Year. Brutti is the third Gatorade Rhode Island Baseball Player of the Year to be chosen from South Kingstown
High School.

The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic
achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field, distinguishes Brutti as Rhode Island’s
best high school baseball player. Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Baseball Player of the Year
award to be announced in June, Brutti joins an elite alumni association of state award-winners in 12 sports,
including Derek Jeter (1991-92, Kalamazoo High School, Mich.), Jon Lester (2001-02, Bellarmine Preparatory
School, Wash.), David Price (2003-04, Blackman High School, Tenn.), Clayton Kershaw (2005-06, Highland Park
High School, Texas), Rick Porcello (2006-07, Seaton Hall Preparatory School, N.J.) and Kris Bryant (2009-10,
Bonanza High School, Nev.).

The 6-foot-3, 200-pound senior right-handed pitcher and first baseman led the Rebels to a 17-3 record and a berth
in the Division 1 state quarterfinals. Brutti owned a 7-1 record on the mound with a 0.46 ERA through 19 games,
fanning 105 batters while surrendering just 14 hits and issuing only 11 walks in 46 innings pitched. Brutti, who did
not play as a junior because of a back injury, batted .465 with two home runs, 21 RBI and a .586 on-base
percentage.

Brutti has volunteered locally at a homeless shelter and food bank, and he has donated his time as a flag football
referee and youth baseball coach. “Ben has completely dominated Rhode Island high school baseball in 2022,” said
Matt McGuire, head coach of Portsmouth High School. “As a pitcher, he is nearly untouchable, but offensively he’s
been a weapon, too. He is the best player in Rhode Island.”

Brutti has maintained a weighted 4.19 GPA in the classroom. He has signed a National Letter of Intent to play
baseball on scholarship at the University of South Florida this fall.

The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of
the 50 states that sanction high school football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls
basketball, boys and girls soccer, baseball, softball, and boys and girls track & field, and awards one National Player
of the Year in each sport. The selection process is administered by the Gatorade Player of the Year Selection
Committee, which leverages experts including coaches, scouts, media and others as sources to help evaluate and
determine the state winners in each sport.

Brutti joins recent Gatorade Rhode Island Baseball Players of the Year Brandyn Durand (2020-21, Bishop
Hendricken High School), Brad Lombardi (2019-20, Bishop Hendricken High School), Tucker Flint (2018-19,
Bishop Hendricken High School), and Ben Sears (2017-18, East Providence High School), among the state’s list of
former award winners.

Gatorade has a long-standing history of serving athlete communities and understands how sports instill valuable
lifelong skills on and off the field. Through Gatorade’s “Play it Forward” platform, Brutti has the opportunity to award
a $1,000 grant to a local or national organization of their choosing that helps young athletes realize the benefits of
playing sports. Brutti is also eligible to submit a short video explaining why the organization they chose is deserving
of one of twelve $10,000 spotlight grants, which will be announced throughout the year. To date, Gatorade Player of
the Year winners’ grants have totaled more than $3.5 million across more than 1,300 organizations.
Since the program’s inception in 1985, Gatorade Player of the Year award recipients have won hundreds of
professional and college championships, and many have also turned into pillars in their communities, becoming
coaches, business owners and educators.

To learn more about the Gatorade Player of the Year program, check out past winners or to nominate studentathletes, visit playeroftheyear.gatorade.com or follow us on social media on Facebook at facebook.com/GatoradePOY, Instagram at instagram.com/Gatorade and Twitter at twitter.com/Gatorade.