Sinton’s Blake Mitchell is the 2022-23 Gatorade Texas Baseball Player of the Year. The state’s returning Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year, Mitchell is batting .471 with 6 home runs, 41 RBI, 47 runs scored, 35 stolen bases and an on-base percentage of .692 through 37 games. The 6-foot-2, 205-pound senior catcher has led the Pirates to a 35-2 record and a trip to Class 4A Region IV finals.
Mitchell was selected as the MVP of the 2022 Under Armour All-America Game and was a Rawlings/Perfect Game Preseason First Team All-American as well as a MaxPreps All-American. He was also a member of the USA Baseball 18U National Team which won a gold medal at the WBSC Baseball World Cup last summer. He is ranked as the nation’s No. 5 prospect in the Class of 2023 by Prep Baseball Report.
This 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 Mitchell as Texas’ best high school baseball player. Mitchell has volunteered locally on behalf of the Make-a-Wish Foundation. He has maintained a 4.24 weighted GPA in the classroom. He has signed a National Letter of Intent to play baseball on scholarship at Louisiana State University this fall, but is projected as an early-round selection in July’s Major League Baseball draft.
“Blake Mitchell is a once-in-a-generation type of baseball player,” said Arturo Elizondo, head coach at Rockport-Fulton High School. “He can play any position on the field at a high level, but his catching in particular is superb. Just a great player on the field and a great person off of it.”
Mitchell joins recent Gatorade Texas Baseball Players of the Year Jordan Lawlar (2020-21, Dallas Jesuit), Jared Kelley (2019-20, Refugio), Bobby Witt Jr. (2018-19, Colleyville Heritage) and Brett Baty (2017-18, Lake Travis) among the state’s list of former award winners.
