Update: Athlete of the week, Matthew Bettencourt
El Diamante High School baseball player Matthew Bettencourt was voted by readers as the Visalia Times-Delta Tulare County prep athlete of the week.
In an online poll that closed on May 6, Bettencourt received 2,860 votes, or a 48.3% majority, of the 5,943 responses.
Bettencourt went the distance, hurling three strikeouts in nine frames to help lift the Miners to a win over Mt. Whitney.
Editor's note: Anyone can nominate an athlete of the week for every sport. Nominate next week's ballot through email. Readers can email nominations to sports reporter Vongni Yang at vyang2@gannett.com. Please include a player's statistics and a photo if possible.
All high school varsity players from Tulare County are eligible to be placed on the ballot. Nominations must be received by Monday morning following that week's games for consideration.
Original story: Visalia Times-Delta/Tulare Advance-Register readers can now vote for their favorite prep athletes of the week at the newspaper's website, visaliatimesdelta.com. The poll closes at noon on Friday.
Please do not email your votes.
More:
Remember softball star Stevi Johnson? She's now the Redwood head coach
Cancer survivor Jacob Fagundes throws out first pitch at El Diamante fundraiser
Here are the choices for the week of April 25-30:
Travis Applegate, boys swimming, Mt. Whitney. Applegate captured the individual West Yosemite League championship in the 100-yard breaststroke.
Matthew Bettencourt, baseball, El Diamante. Bettencourt went the distance, hurling three strikeouts in nine frames to help lift the Miners to a win over Mt. Whitney.
Kenady Blackburn, softball, Tulare Western. Blackburn hit a solo home run to help the Mustangs defeat Tulare Union in an East Yosemite League game. She finished with two hits and three runs scored.
Taylor Drummonds, girls swimming, Golden West. Drummonds won the individual WYL title in the 50-yard freestyle.
Karson Everett, track and field, Redwood. Everett won both the 100- and 200-meter dashes in the Rangers' meet against Golden West.
Luke Giotta, baseball, Central Valley Christian. Giotta fired eight strikeouts in just 3⅓ innings as the Cavaliers defeated Exeter.
Anyone (coaches, parents, teammates, teachers, friends, etc.) can nominate an athlete of the week for every sport.
Nominate next week's ballot through email to sports reporter Vongni Yang at vyang2@visaliatimesdelta.com.
Nominations are based on information made available to the Times-Delta. Please include statistics and a photo with your submission.
All high school varsity players from Tulare County are eligible to be placed on the ballot. Nominations must be received by Monday morning following that week's games for consideration.
Vongni Yang is a sports reporter for the Visalia Times-Delta/Tulare Advance-Register. He covers Tulare County sports. Follow him on Twitter @Vongni. To support his continued coverage of local sports, subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: Update: Athlete of the week, Matthew Bettencourt
