Gaither Grad Honored by County

This just in, from a Hillsborough County news release:

Hayden Kelley is one of Hillsborough County’s top high school baseball players, and now he can add another distinction to his long list of accomplishments — winner of Hillsborough County’s 7th Annual Wade Boggs Athletic Achievement Award.

Kelley will be recognized by Wade Boggs and the County Commission during their regular Board meeting on Wednesday, June 6, at 9 a.m. at County Center, 2nd Floor Boardroom, 601 E. Kennedy Blvd. in downtown Tampa. Christian Diaz from George Steinbrenner High School also will be recognized with an Honorable Mention award.

The Wade Boggs Athletic Achievement Award, named in honor of 12-time baseball All Star and former Tampa Bay Devil Rays Wade Boggs, was established by the Hillsborough County Commission in 2005 to recognize the outstanding athletic and scholastic achievements of a high school baseball player or team.

Hayden Kelley, who will graduate from Gaither High School this week, completed school with a 3.98 GPA.  He was in honors and AP classes and was in the law magnet program at Gaither.  Kelley has received a Senior Achievement Award for academic and leadership accomplishments and he is a recipient of Florida’s Bright Futures Scholarship.

Hayden has served as a counselor and caregiver the past two summers at the Shriners’ Camp-Care-A-lot.  He travels to the Dominican Republic in the summer with SCORE International on baseball mission trips.  He also participates in Son Diamond Baseball Camps for inner-city children and has volunteered with the homeless outreach efforts in the local area.

Hayden has been a team captain in many sports and was Gaither’s first game captain chosen for this year’s team. He has won numerous awards for both baseball and football in high school, including being named to the 2012 All Western Conference First Team as an outfielder. 

He has played on four district championship high school baseball teams while at Gaither and Cambridge combined, and has played in two state championship baseball games. He has been selected to play in several all-star games over the last three years and was a starting outfielder on his 18U travel team that won the 2011 Perfect Game National Championship last summer. He signed a National Letter of Intent and has received a full baseball scholarship to attend school and play baseball at Miami Dade College.  His dream is to one day play Major League Baseball.

The Wade Boggs Athletic Award Committee recommends to the County Commission which nominee should receive the award. To be considered for an award, nominees must be a high school baseball player or baseball team in Hillsborough County; exhibit outstanding athletic skills, exceptional academic achievement, good sportsmanship and exemplary conduct; and have made a substantial contribution to the betterment of the community.