Vote now: Who should be the SBLive Iowa high school athlete of the week?
By Barry Poe
Here are the candidates for SBLive’s Iowa high school athlete of the week for July 4-9 as nominated by coaches, fans and readers.
Read through the nominees and cast your vote. We’ll send a free SBLive T-shirt to the winner of the poll!
Voting will conclude Sunday at 11:59 p.m. and the winner will be announced Monday.
If you would like to make a nomination in a future week, email nate@scorebooklive.com.
Editor’s Note: Our Athlete of the Week feature and corresponding poll is intended to be fun, and we do not set limits on how many times a fan can vote during the competition. However, we do not allow votes that are generated by script, macro or other automated means. Athletes who receive votes generated by script, macro or other automated means will be disqualified.
Baseball
Collin Homan, Remsen St. Mary’s
Freshman socked walk-off home run in the bottom of the eighth inning in unbeaten and 32-0 Hawks’ 2-1 win over Le Mars Gehlen Catholic in a 1A district championship Saturday.
Ganon Archer, Van Meter
Senior pitched a shutout and had three hits, including a double, and two RBIs as three-time defending Class 2A state champion Bulldogs opened tournament play with a 7-0 win over Greene County Wednesday.
Britton Bond, Lewis Central
Senior catcher collected three hits and drove in three as top-ranked Titans bounced back from a loss in their regular season finale to blank Clarke 13-0 in a 3A district opener Friday.
Sam Hesselman, Johnston
Junior first baseman had a double and triple, driving in four in a 17-0 rout of Des Moines North in a 4A district opener Friday.
Elijah Brinkley, Mason City Newman
Senior collected three hits and drove in three as Knights won their 19th straight, 16-1 over West Hancock, in a 1A district final Saturday.
Blake Ingvall, Estherville-Lincoln Central
Senior third baseman had two hits and drove in a run in Midgets’ 5-3 win over Spirit Lake in a 2A district final Saturday.
Noah Mack, Assumption
Senior smacked a grand slam home run as Knights opened post season play with a 10-0 victory over Washington Friday.
Cade Obermueller, Iowa City High
Senior allowed three hits and struck out 14 in six innings as Little Hawks blanked Muscatine 5-0 in a 4A district opener Friday.
Carter Allen, New London
Senior first baseman had a double and triple in 27-1 Tigers’ 5-0 win over Burlington Notre Dame in a 1A district final Saturday.
Cade Rausch, Cascade
Junior catcher doubled and drove in three runs in Cougars’ 10-0 win over Camanche in a 2A district final Saturday.
Cole Johnson, Grinnell
Senior catcher was 3-for-3 with a homer and three RBIs as third-ranked Tigers beat Perry 11-1 in a 3A district opener Friday.
Kade Knock, Cedar Rapids Prairie
Junior centerfielder rapped two triples and drove in a pair in Hawks’ 8-0 shutout win over Waterloo West in a 4A substate opener Saturday.
Tyson Cota, Kee
Senior did now allow a hit and struck out 11 in five innings as Kee Hawks opened postseason play with a 10-0 win over Dunkerton Wednesday.
Owen Huehnergarth, Dyersville Beckman
Senior had single and double, driving in three runs in Trailblazers’ 6-4 win over Monticello in 2A district final Saturday.
Carson Cummer, Dubuque Wahlert
Senior shortstop drove in three runs in Golden Eagles’ 10-0 win over Vinton-Shellsburg in a 3A district opener Friday.
Grady Deering, Waukee
Sophomore third baseman doubled and drove in three runs in Warriors’ 9-0 win over Des Moines Hoover in a 4A substate opener Friday.
Dawson Youngblut, Don Bosco
Junior right fielder was 4-for-4 with two doubles and three RBIs in 15-7 win over North Tama in 1A district final Saturday.
Cole Baumgart, Clarinda
Sophomore shortstop had three hits, drove in four and scored twice in Cardinals’ 11-1 win over Treynor in a 2A district final Saturday.
Alex Neal, Cedar Rapids Xavier
Senior threw a no-hitter and struck out 13 in a five-inning 10-0 win over Iowa Falls-Alden in a 3A district opener Friday.
Nick Severson, Ankeny Centennial
Junior catcher had three hits and drove in two as Jaguars opened substate play with a 10-0 win over Fort Dodge Friday.
Austin Hillmer, North Linn
Senior picked up the pitching win and collected two hits at the plate, scoring twice in Lynx 10-0 win over Alburnett in a 1A district final Saturday.
Clay Cuva, West Marshall
Sophomore centerfielder drove in six runs in 13-0 win over Williamsburg in 2A district final Saturday. Cuva had a two-run double and three-run homer.
Nathan Rolling, Western Dubuque
Bobcats blanked Crestwood 8-0 in a 3A substate opener Friday as Rolling struck out 13 and allowed just two hits.
Jadon Engstrom, Waukee Northwest
Senior centerfielder had two hits and drove in three runs in Wolves’ 10-0 win over Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson in a 4A substate opener Friday.
Softball
Jalen Adams, Fort Dodge
Senior pitched a four-inning no-hitter, striking out 10 in 12-0 Class 5A regional semifinal win over Sioux City North Saturday.
Bridget Stover, Winterset
Senior catcher was 2-for-3 at the plate in 9-2 Class 4A regional semifinal win over Pella Saturday.
Addison Gookin, Mount Vernon
Sophomore second baseman was 4-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored in 15-3 win over Hampton-Dumont in Class 3A regional semifinal Saturday.
Aurora Stepleton, Central Springs
Junior right fielder was 3-for-3 with three RBIs and two runs scored in 12-0 win over Lake Mills in Class 2A regional semifinal Saturday.
Ellie Flanagan, North Linn
Junior pitched a no-hitter, striking out 11 in 3-0 win over Don Bosco in Class 1A regional semifinal Saturday.
Ava Smithson, Johnston
Senior catcher was 3-for-4 with a double and two RBIs in 8-0 5A regional semifinal win over Des Moines Lincoln Saturday.
Aliya Yanga, ADM
Junior was the winning pitcher and drove in a run in 2-0 win over Boone in 4A regional semifinal Saturday.
Abby Odean, Davenport Assumption
Junior had three hits and knocked in five runs in 13-0 Class 3A regional semifinal win over Indepence Saturday.
Beth Streuber, North Union
Sophomore second baseman rapped two doubles as Warriors won their ninth straight, 2-0 over Sibley-Ocheyedan in a 2A regional semifinal Saturday.
Mary Walker, Newell-Fonda
Junior catcher drove in the game’s only run with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth inning as Mustangs escaped with a 1-0 win over GTRA in a 1A regional semifinal Saturday.
Brylee Seaman, Muscatine
Sophomore shortstop was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer in 9-0 win over Davenport North in 5A regional semifinal Saturday.
Reese Burke, Dallas Center-Grimes
Sophomore first baseman clubbed a home run and knocked in three as Mustangs won their 12th straight, 12-0 over Denison-Schleswig in a 4A regional semifinal Saturday.
Makenna Hughes, Williamsburg
Freshman second baseman had two doubles and drove in a run in 10-0 shutout of Chariton in a 3A regional semifinal Saturday.
Abby Hiatt, Logan-Magnolia
Sophomore pitched a shutout and hit a two-run double as the Panthers remained unbeaten at 27-0 with 6-0 win over Treynor in a 2A regional semifinal Saturday.
Kali Nelson, Lisbon
Junior rightfielder singled home Gabi Moehlman for the winning run as third-ranked Lions rallied for a 7-6 win over Springville in a 1A regional semifinal Saturday.
Ella Parker, Waukee Northwest
Senior centerfielder had three hits and drove in five runs in Wolves’ 10-0 win over Des Moines Roosevelt in a 5A regional semifinal Saturday.
Kaylee Cary, Norwalk
Junior shortstop was 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs in a 5-1 win over Cedar Rapids Xavier in 4A regional semifinal Saturday.
Pearson Hall, West Liberty
Freshman shortstop was 4-for-4 with a double and triple in a 10-2 win over West Delaware in a 3A regional quarterfinal on Wednesday.
Courtney Kessler, Iowa City Regina
Junior catcher had three hits, including a double, and drove in four runs in Regals’ 11-1 win over Denver in a 2A regional quarterfinal Wednesday.
Erica Houge, Collins-Maxwell
Sophomore pitched a no-hitter with 13 strikeouts and one walk in 2-0 1A regional semifinal win over North Butler Friday.
Payton Drefke, Ankeny Centennial
Sophomore leftfielder was 3-for-4 at the plate as Jaguars escaped with 4-3 win over Waterloo West in 5A regional semifinal Saturday.
Caylin Furnal, Carlisle
Junior third baseman accounted for three of Wildcats’ runs with a three-run homer in 4-3 4A regional semifinal win over Gilbert Saturday.
Addy Reynolds, Mount Ayr
Senior hit two home runs and was the winning pitcher as Raiders surprised Interstate 35, 4-2 in 2A regional semifinal Saturday.
Mya Bunkers, Remsen St. Mary’s
Sophomore shortstop had two hits, drove in three runs and scored twice in 12-0 1A regional semifinal win over Kingsley-Pierson Saturday.
Gianna Lara, W.D.M. Valley
Senior second baseman had a homer, driving in two, as Tigers downed Urbandale 12-2 in regional semifinal Saturday.