Vote for the southwestern Illinois Softball Player of the Week April 4-9

Vote for the Belleville News-Democrat’s Softball Prep of the Week. Poll closes at 11:59 p.m. Thursday, April 14. To vote again, hit refresh.

Want to nominate an athlete? The BND Athlete of the Week highlights high school varsity softball and baseball players who put in outstanding performances from the week prior to the opening of the poll. If you want to suggest someone to be included, send an email to Garen Vartanian at gvartanian@bnd.com.

Please include the athlete’s name, school, class, position, and applicable game performance statistics. Coaches must be willing to verify information.

To be clear, this poll is not scientific. In fact, we invite you to vote as many times as you want. It’s all for fun, BND readers. People also may submit the same athlete from week to week.

We are planning to post the results later this week after the poll closes.

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Here are this week’s nominees:

• Emily Allen, Belleville West High School, senior, 2B. On the season, Allen is batting .513 with 1 home run and 7 RBI.

• Avery Budde, Breese Central High School, senior, P. Last week, Buddle fired 13 innings, allowing just 4 earned runs while striking out 24 batters in picking up wins against Okawville and Collinsville. On the season, Budde is 6-0 with a 1.84 earned run average. At the plate, Budde is hitting .520 with 2 home runs and 11 RBI.

• Audrey Clark, Mater Dei High School, sophomore, P. Threw a 5 inning perfect game against Hillsboro, while posting 9 strikeouts in a 10-0 win. She then threw a 7 inning complete game against Triad, allowing just 4 hits and 1 earned run while fanning 3 in a 7-2 triumph. Clark in 9-0 thus far with a 1.11 earned run average.

• Kylee Crowder, Belleville East High School, senior, 3B. Last week, Crowder went 6-for-9 with 3 runs scored and 5 RBI. She currently leads the Lancers in average, on base percentage, doubles home runs and RBI. On the season, Crowder is hitting .609 with 3 homers and 18 RBI.

• Nicole Edmiaston, Freeburg High School, junior, 1B. Batting .675 with 4 home runs and 28 RBIs in the first 13 games of the season, including a 7-for-7 day against Belleville East on March 26 and a two home run game vs. Civic Memorial on April 7.
  
  

• Adi Foutch, Breese Central High School, senior, SS. Last week, Foutch went 7-for-8 with 2 home runs, 3 doubles, 6 RBI and 3 runs scored. On the season, Foutch is batting .615 with 2 home runs and 11 RBI.

• Julianna Huber, Breese Central High School, sophomore, OF/IF. Last week, Huber went 5-for-7 with 2 home runs, 1 double, 6 RBI and 3 runs scored. On the season, Huber has two home runs and 7 RBI.

• Aileen Walker, Belleville East High School, senior, P/SS/2B. Last week, Walker went 6-for-12 while going 3-0 on the mound and carried an 8-2 overall record with a 1.24 ERA into action this week. On the season, Walker also is hitting .422, while being second on the team on his with 19.

• Mackenzie Young, Collinsville High School, senior, C/2B. In 24 plate appearances last week, Young had a .750 on base percentage, 5 singles, 6 doubles, 2 triples, 6 RBI, 9 runs scored and 4 walks. On the season, Young is hitting .525 with 13 RBI.

This story was originally published April 12, 2022 at 5:00 AM.