Riley Hull knew that if she was going to be named the 2019-20 Gatorade softball player of the year for the state of Kentucky, the news was going to come by email.

She just didn’t know when.

It’s why Hull woke up time after time in the middle of the night just to check her email, but she was left disappointed on each attempt. After a fourth refresh yielded no results, Hull went back to sleep for the final time.

Then she woke up to her mom, Angie Taylor, shaking her awake and yelling, “You won, Riley! You did it!”

“I thought my heart was going to come out of my chest,” Hull told The Dispatch via email on Thursday.

The Mississippi State softball commit in the recruiting class of 2021 had, in fact, earned the distinction — one she hoped to but never really expected to receive.

“I have always dreamed of this recognition ever since I was little but never wrapped my head around the thought of actually winning!” Hull said.

According to Gatorade, the award — given to one player in each state in, football, volleyball, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls track and field, softball and baseball — is allotted based on academic achievement and standout character in addition to athletic accomplishments.

Hull checked all three boxes.

Through her junior year at Pulaski County High School in Somerset, Kentucky, the junior catcher holds a 3.98 GPA. In addition to volunteering at a women’s shelter, Hull helps coach youth softball players around the area, including coaching in a youth league with some of her Pulaski County teammates.

“It’s so fun just to teach the younger generation and know you have the power to affect their lives for the better,” Hull said.

The Bulldogs pledge said her academic talent and volunteer efforts should pay dividends down the line when her college and softball careers eventually come to an end.

“I think that everything I do within the community will help me in the long run because not only am I creating connections everywhere I go, but I am gaining so much respect for the community i’m living in and have the chance to impact others’ lives to where they hopefully will always remember me,” Hull said.

Her accomplishments on the diamond are no mean feat, either. Hull has a remarkable 115 hits to zero strikeouts in her high school career, and she hit .403 and drove in 41 runs last July to help her Tennessee Mojo club team win the Junior Olympic Cup 16-and-under tournament.

And as long as her state’s high school activities association permits it, Hull will be back on the field with the Mojo this summer.

“We have tournaments lined up for June and July, so I pray we can find our way on the field soon,” she said.

With one more season to play before coming to Starkville, Hull is ready to keep proving herself as one of the best players in the nation. As a sophomore, she won the Johnny Bench Award for Kentucky’s best catcher, and she’s also the first player from her high school to earn the Gatorade nod.

“Not many people from my small town get recognized,” Hull said, “so to be able to say I’m from small-town Pulaski County and represent them makes me so happy.”

Hull, who hopes to be named Gatorade player of the year again next May, said that winning the award as a junior “just means more motivation.” But she’s ready for that.

“I know I have a lot of kids now who will look up to me, and I know that not only do I have to be a role model, but I have to keep pushing myself to become the best of my ability,” Hull said.

Pickens Academy’s Lowe also earns honor

Shelby Lowe of Pickens Academy was named Alabama’s Gatorade player of the year on Thursday as well.

Lowe, an Auburn signee, didn’t get to complete most of her senior season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but she impressed nonetheless, going 8-0 with a 0.76 ERA and striking out 96 hitters.

Lowe pitched to a 0.63 earned run average with 13 shutouts, six no-hitters and two perfect games in her sophomore season. She struck out 347 hitters in 166⅔ innings that season, and she led the state of Alabama with 15.7 strikeouts per seven innings her junior season.

Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.