CLEVELAND’S ANTHONY DEL ANGEL NAMED GATORADE NEW MEXICO BASEBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Gatorade today announced Anthony Del Angel of V. Sue Cleveland High School is the 2024-25 Gatorade New Mexico Baseball Player of the Year.
Gatorade Player of the Year is the top honor in high school sports, celebrating the nation’s best high school athletes for their success on the field, in the classroom and in the community. The award distinguishes Del Angel as New Mexico’s best high school baseball player, and he joins an impressive group of alumni that spans CEOs, coaches and star athletes such as Gary Sheffield (1985-86, Hillsborough High School, Florida), Clayton Kershaw (2005-06, Highland Park High School, Texas) and Konnor Griffin (2023-24, Jackson Preparatory School, Mississippi).
The 6-foot-4, 205-pound junior utility player led the Storm (20-10) to the quarterfinals of the 5A state tournament this past season. Del Angel hit .534 with 28 RBI and 17 extra-base hits, including seven home runs. The District 1-5A Player of the Year , he was 13-for-13 on stolen base attempts and is ranked as the nation’s No. 13 recruit in the Class of 2026 by Perfect Game.
Del Angel has volunteered locally by helping set up and staff an event to benefit childhood cancer patients. He has also donated his time to multiple community service initiatives through his church. “V. Sue Cleveland High School’s success was built around Del Angel. He made his team better offensively and defensively,” said Paul Cieremans, head coach at Los Lunas High School. “He could be inserted into several positions and played each position well.”
Del Angel has maintained a B average in the classroom. He has made a verbal commitment to play baseball on scholarship at the University of Oklahoma beginning in the fall of 2026.
The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states across 12 different high school sports – 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.
As part of Gatorade’s commitment to breaking down barriers in sport, every Player of the Year also receives a grant to donate to a social impact partner. To date, the Gatorade Player of the Year program has provided more than $5.6 million in grants to winners across more than 2,000 organizations.
*photos courtesy Joe Grimando
