Voting: Southwest Illinois Male Baseball Player of the Week

Vote for the Belleville News-Democrat’s Baseball Prep of the Week. The poll closes at 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, April 21. To vote again, tap Refresh.

Want to nominate an athlete? BND’s Athlete of the Week spotlights high school college softball and baseball players who had outstanding performances the week before the ballot opened. If you would like to suggest someone to include, email Garen Vartanian at gvartanian@bnd.com.

Please include athlete 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 wish. This is for fun, BND readers. People can also submit the same athlete from week to week.

We expect to release 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 has gone 2 for 6 with 2 home runs, 5 RBIs and 3 runs scored. On Friday, Brock was hitting .611 this season with 13 extra hits, 20 RBIs and 23 runs scored.

• Evan Davis, Waterloo High School, Jr., SS. In a recent game against Triad, Davis went 3 for 4 with 1 point scored. On Friday, Davis was batting .421 on the season with 4 doubles, 2 triples and 12 RBIs.

• Hank Gomric, Althoff Catholic High School, sophomore, OF/P. In recent matches, Gomric went 3-4 against South Seven rivals Centralia and 2-4 against league foe Marion. On Friday, Gomric hit .458 on the season with 3 home runs, 14 RBIs, 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 Southwest Conference rival Alton on Tuesday, April 12. In the 10-0 victory, Kelly worked 6 innings, struck out 7 and walked 2. Record and 0.67 ERA on the season while striking out 29 batters in 21 innings of work.

• Will Mallard, O’Fallon High School, Jr., C/INF. In a recent doubles sweep of Southwestern Conference rival Belleville West, Mallard had 3 hits and 4 RBIs for 4 at bats. On Friday, Mallard hit .467 on the season with 9 doubles and 26 RBIs.

• Logan Mueller, Columbia High School, senior, P/INF. Mueller helped the Eagles defeat Cahokia Conference rivals Freeburg 3-1 by going a full game 3 hits while striking out 7. On Friday, Mueller was 4-0 on the season with a running average earned 1.73 and 32 strikeouts in 24 2/3 innings.

• Spencer Stearns, Edwardsville High School, senior, P/3B. In recent games, Stearns has gone 3-on-3 against Jackson (Missouri) at Busch Stadium and 5-on-7 in a double sweep of Southwestern Conference rival Collinsville. He also pitched 3 shutout innings against Jackson and 4 shutout innings against the Kahoks to claim the win in both games. On Friday, Stearns was 4-0 on the mound with a 1.05 ERA with 30 strikeouts in 20 innings. Additionally, Stearns entered the weekend batting .500 on the season with 2 home runs and 13 RBIs. Stearns was also recognized by the St. Louis Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame on Thursday, April 14 as a finalist for the prestigious Rising Star Award.