Poll results: Edwardsville freshman BND Softball Player of the Week in southwestern IL​

Garen Vartanian, Ahmad Lathan
·2 min read

Grace Oertle of Edwardsville High School is the winner of this week’s Belleville News-Democrat Softball Player of the Week high school poll, as selected by readers of bnd.com.

In recent action, Oertle, a freshman shortstop/center fielder, had 3 RBI and a HR in a 11-5 win over Belleville West in an IHSA Class 4A regional championship game. Oertle helped the Tigers finish 30-7 this season and reach the IHSA Class 4A sectional championship.

Overall, Oertle — who secured 83% of the votes — is batting .408 with 3 home runs and 26 RBI.

Here were the other candidates for the week of May 22-29:

  • Maggie Grohmann, Highland High School, senior, INF. Grohmann hit a HR and had 3 RBI in a 12-9 victory against Civic Memorial in an IHSA Class 3A regional championship game. Grohmann helped the Bulldogs carry a 24-7-1 mark into this week’s sectional round.

  • Maya Hathaway, Belleville East High School, senior, OF. Hathaway had 4 hits and 1 RBI in a 10-2 win against O’Fallon in an IHSA Class 4A regional championship game. Hathaway helped the Lancers carry a 27-7-1 record into this week’s sectional round.

  • Mia Miller, Waterloo High School, junior, P. Miller rang up 14 strikeouts and allowed just 1 hit in a 7-0 victory over Jerseyville in an IHSA Class 3A regional championship game. Miller helped the Bulldogs carry an 18-12 record into this week’s sectional round.

  • Samantha Roulanaitis, Freeburg High School, junior, P. Roulanaitis pitched a no-hitter while fanning 7 in a 12-0 win over Columbia in an IHSA Class 2A sectional championship game. The Midgets ultimately finished the season at 33-2 following a loss in the super-sectional round.

The poll ended at 8 a.m. Friday.

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.

The next poll will appear on the BND’s website — www.bnd.com — at 8 a.m. Tuesday. Please email nominations to gvartanian@bnd.com.

Previous winners: Aubrey Weaver of Belleville West High School; Olivia Anderson of Belleville West High School; Brooke Goetter of Lebanon High School; Malia Robertson of O’Fallon High School; Samantha Roulanaitis of Freeburg High School; Olivia Hemmerle of Belleville East High School; and Lilly Heck of Waterloo High School.