Chaska High School senior Brad Hand has a busy summer ahead of him.

There are the Section 2-3A baseball playoffs starting on Friday, and hopefully the state tournament after that.

He is expected to be the first Minnesota player selected in the Major League Baseball amateur draft on June 5-6.

He, along with teammates Cory Glieden and John Straka, was selected to play for the West Metro team at the annual Lions All-Star Series in Chaska in mid-June.

Then, there is American Legion baseball and a scholarship waiting at Arizona State University in the fall.Brad Hand

Now, the awards are starting to roll in.

Hand was selected as the Gatorade Minnesota Baseball Player of the Year on Wednesday.

Hand has a 6-1 record as a pitcher, with two saves and an 0.46 earned-run average. His 93 mile-per-hour fastball and biting curve has fanned 80 batters over 45-1/3 innings. As a batter, Hand is hitting .343 with six home runs and 17 RBI.

Hand finished his junior season with a 4-1 record, 1.69 ERA and 72 strikeouts, while batting .419 with six homers.

Hand is the latest Chaska athlete to win the state Gatorade award.

Baseball player Eric Welter received the honor in 1991-92, volleyball player Amanda Rome was a two-time winner in 1996-97 and 1997-98, basketball player Spencer Tollackson won in 2003-04 and softball pitcher Brynne Dordel was the 2006-07 recipient.

As the state Player of the Year, Hand is now a finalist for the Gatorade National Baseball Player of the Year award, announced in early June.

State winners are selected based on athletic performance, as well as academic-achievement and personal character.

The national winners then become finalists for the Gatorade Male High School Athlete of the Year Award, presented at a
special ceremony the afternoon prior to The ESPY Awards in July.

The Gatorade Player of the Year program selects a winner from all 50 states and Washington, D.C. that sanction high school football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls soccer, boys and girls basketball, baseball, softball and boys and girls track and field.

- By Tim McGovern
Chaska Herald Sports Editor