Windham High senior Brady Afthim wins prestigious Winkin Award

Windham senior Brady Afthim has won
the prestigious The Winkin Award and 
is the 2021 Gatorade Maine Baseball Player
of the Year award for athletic and academic
excellence and strong character. Both awards 
recognize him as the best high school
baseball player in the state this past season.
PHOTO BY HEATHER SEAVEY

By Matt Pascarella

Brady Afthim’s goal was like most other high school baseball players, he just wanted to win games. As he and the team went into the 2021 season, he knew there was the possibly of other teams looking down on Windham. Afthim wanted to do his part and show those teams they were wrong. And he did.

Afthim, who will play college baseball for the University of Connecticut, was presented with the most prestigious high school baseball award in the state, the Winkin Award, on June 23 at Saint Joseph’s College. Afthim also earned the title of ‘Mr. Maine Baseball’ as winner of this award.

Afthim had a fantastic season. He struck out 128 batters in 53 1/3 innings. He had an ERA of .525. Afthim’s abilities did not stop at the mound. When he was at the plate, he had a batting average of .478 and had three homeruns over the season.

The Maine Baseball Coaches Association established this award in 1992, named for University of Maine baseball coach Dr. John Winkin and is given each year to the best high school senior baseball player in the state.

Afthim said every player hopes to be recognized as the best in the state, especially in their last season. He knew he was a finalist for the award and admitted he would be lying if he said he wasn’t thinking about it, but during the season he was more focused on the game and doing his best.

“It feels great (to win the Winkin Award). I think it’s cool and hopefully I’ll be able to show it to my kids one day and tell them I could play, too.”

Afthim thinks he had a good season because, with it being his last, he was trying to have fun with the time he had left.

“Brady was very successful on the mound and at the plate,” said Windham High varsity baseball coach Cody Dube.  “He also caught which makes his success more impressive.”

This summer, Afthim will be playing for the Brockton Rox collegiate baseball team, based in Massachusetts. He said hopefully he will learn a lot from coaches and teammates. He wants to really start facing some good hitters that will push him. Afthim admitted he was a little nervous only because it’s a big step, but he’s more excited to get after it and play with the best.

His ultimate goal as a pitcher was to make it super simple and max out his potential.

“If that happens next year or three years or 15 (years), that’s all great but I just try to be the best I can,” he said.

Afthim wants to thank everyone, specifically, his family for being huge support systems and helping him along the way. Afthim would like to thank his coaches for teaching him so much, the Maine Lightning travel baseball team for putting him in a position to succeed, and all his teammates that give him a reason to be better every day. <