Vote for the southwestern Illinois Baseball Player of the Week April 11-16
Vote for the Belleville News-Democrat’s Baseball Prep of the Week. Poll closes at 11:59 p.m. Thursday, April 21. 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:
Brendan Brock, Mascoutah High School, senior, C. In recent games, Brock went 2-for-6 with 2 home runs, 5 RBI and 3 runs scored. As of Friday, Brock was hitting .611 on the season with 13 extra base hits, 20 RBI and 23 runs scored.
Evan Davis, Waterloo High School, junior, SS. In a recent game against Triad, Davis went 3-for-4 with 1 run scored. As of Friday, Davis was batting .421 on the season with 4 doubles, 2 triples and 12 RBI.
Hank Gomric, Althoff Catholic High School, sophomore, OF/P. In recent games, Gomric went 3-for-4 against South Seven rival Centralia and 2-for-4 against league foe Marion. As of Friday, Gomric was hitting .458 on the season with 3 home runs, 14 RBI, 20 runs scored and 8 stolen bases.
Owen Kelly, Belleville East High School, junior, P/OF. In recent action, Kelly threw a no-hitter against Southwestern Conference rival Alton on Tuesday, April 12. In the 10-0 win, Kelly worked 6 innings, struck out 7 and walked 2. As of Friday, Kelly boasted a 3-0 record and 0.67 earned run average on the season while striking out 29 batters in 21 innings of work.
Will Mallard, O’Fallon High School, junior, C/INF. In a recent doubleheader sweep of Southwestern Conference rival Belleville West, Mallard collected 3 hits and 4 RBI in 4 at bats. As of Friday, Mallard was hitting.467 on the season with 9 doubles and 26 RBI.
Logan Mueller, Columbia High School, senior, P/INF. Mueller helped the Eagles defeat Cahokia Conference rival Freeburg 3-1 by firing a 3-hit complete game while striking out 7. As of Friday, Mueller was 4-0 on the season with a 1.73 earned run average and 32 strikeouts in 24 2/3 innings.
Spencer Stearns, Edwardsville High School, senior, P/3B. In recent games, Stearns went 3-for-3 against Jackson (Missouri) at Busch Stadium and 5-for-7 in a doubleheader sweep of Southwestern Conference rival Collinsville. He also threw 3 shutout innings against Jackson and 4 shutout innings against the Kahoks in earning the win in both games. As of Friday, Stearns was 4-0 on the mound with a 1.05 earned run average with 30 strikeouts in 20 innings. Additionally, Stearns entered the weekend batting .500 on the season with 2 home runs and 13 RBI. Stearns also was recognized by the St. Louis Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame on Thursday, April 14, as a finalist for the prestigious Rising Star Award.
This story was originally published April 19, 2022 at 5:00 AM.