BASEBALL

Spruce Creek’s Zac Veen named Gatorade Florida Baseball Player of the Year

Chris Boyle
chris.boyle@news-jrnl.com
Spruce Creek outfielder Zac Veen was named the Gatorade Florida Baseball Player of the Year on Thursday morning. [News-Journal/David Tucker]

For the second time in the last four seasons, Florida’s best prep baseball player hails from Volusia County.

Spruce Creek senior outfielder Zac Veen was selected Thursday morning as the 2019-20 Gatorade Florida Baseball Player of the Year. The University of Florida commit joins former University High pitcher Logan Allen (2017) as award-winners from the Daytona Beach area.

Veen is now a finalist for the prestigious National Player of the Year honor, which will be announced later this month. All 50 states and the District of Columbia are represented.

Past national winners include Hall of Fame shortstop Derek Jeter (1991-92) and former National League MVPs Clayton Kershaw (2005-06) and Kris Bryant (2009-10).

“It would definitely be mind-blowing,” Veen said in a phone interview. “That’s the award I have been chasing since my freshman year. Seeing the players who have won it in the past, like Jeter, those are people I look up to.

“It puts into perspective how all the hard work I’ve put in the last couple years has come to fruition.”

In a season shortened by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Veen batted .500 with 15 runs scored and 10 RBIs, helping the Hawks to a 10-1 record. He smacked four doubles and three home runs, posting a .627 on-base percentage and a .969 slugging percentage.

The award also celebrates academic achievement in addition to athletic excellence. Veen maintains a weighted 3.86 grade-point average in the classroom, has volunteered as a local youth coach and donated time toward a fundraising campaign to benefit Rady’s Children’s Hospital-San Diego.

Veen is the top-ranked high school player in the nation, according to both Perfect Game and Prep Baseball Report. MLB.com lists him as the No. 7 prospect available ahead of the 2020 draft, which will be held on June 10-11.

“Zac is hands down the most driven student-athlete I have ever coached,” Hawks coach Johnny Goodrich said. “There is a lot of pressure Zac is under, but somehow he can cast it aside and he just plays.”

In recent mock drafts, MLB Pipeline writers Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo both pegged Veen to be selected fifth overall by the Toronto Blue Jays, a team with whom the senior has spoken twice via Zoom meetings.

“I can’t read their minds; anything could happen,” Veen said. “It’s up in the air. Ultimately, it’s out of my reach.”