Sarah Ashley Owens of Lewisville softball is The Herald’s Player of the Week (May 17)

Sarah Ashley Owens of the Lewisville softball team is The Herald’s latest spring sports Player of the Week.

Owens, a seventh-grader, had a great week last week to earn her the award: She tossed a complete-game shutout with 11 strikeouts to lead Lewisville to a 5-0 win over Whitmire on May 10. She also went 1-for-2 at the plate in a loss to Chesnee the next day.

This week, too, she helped propel the Lions past Ware Shoals, 13-3, in an elimination game in the 1A playoffs.

There were 53,542 votes cast in this week’s poll. Owens notched 37.7% of the vote; Aiken Golightly of Westminster Catawba notched 23% of the vote; and Devyn Sutton of Legion Collegiate notched 15.9% of the vote.

Meet all the finalists and review the poll’s full results below.

(Information published below includes statistics through May 15. Voting opened on Monday, May 17.)

Meet the finalists

Jackson Dawson, Fort Mill track: The junior ran the anchor leg on the 4x800 relay team that won its heat (with a 8:06.38) and qualified for the state meet at the 5A state qualifier at Spring Valley on May 14-15. Fort Mill’s 4x800 relay team has the No. 1 time in the state — and the No. 14 time in the nation — this season. Only 45 minutes after his relay run at the same meet, Dawson ran a personal-best 4:26.43 in the 1600 meter run to qualify for the top spot at the state meet in that event.

Aiken Golightly, Westminster Catawba golf: Golightly shot a one-under par (71) to win the individual NCISAA 2A state championship at Bryan Park in Greensboro on May 10. The junior also led the Westminster Catawba golf team to a state title the same day — the first one in school history.

Dillon Hutto, York Prep baseball: The Patriots’ junior tossed a complete-game shutout with four strikeouts to lead York Prep to a 1-0 win over Fairfield Central on May 13. York Prep did not make the 2A state baseball playoffs.

Sarah Ashley Owens, Lewisville softball.

Aiden Pomnitz, Lancaster baseball: The Bruins’ junior strung together performances to remember in the final week of Lancaster’s baseball season: He went 8-for-14 with a double, a triple, six singles, six runs batted in and two stolen bases as Lancaster beat Buford, Chester and Fairfield Central last week. His best day? Pomnitz went 4-for-5 with a double and four RBI in a 16-11 win over Buford on May 10. Pomnitz finished his season batting .324 with 11 runs scored, nine stolen bases and 17 RBI.

Seven Roach, South Pointe baseball: The Stallions’ senior was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and four stolen bases in a 2-1 win over Catawba Ridge on May 10. The Norfolk State commit batted .347 and notched three triples, six RBI and 37 stolen bases for South Pointe this season. The Stallions did not make the 4A state playoffs.

Shyann Holt, Catawba Ridge soccer: The junior goalkeeper — like she has all season — proved invaluable to the Catawba Ridge girls’ soccer team (15-2) last week. Holt contributed to a shutout in the team’s Upper State championship victory on Monday, and she stifled several offensive attacks in a 1-0 loss to James Island in the 4A state championship game Saturday. Holt finished the season with 13 clean sheets and only allowed eight goals in 17 games.

Devyn Sutton, Legion Collegiate golf: The Lancers’ sophomore shot an even par, 72, to win the Region 4-2A title at Lancaster Golf Club on May 11. Sutton had three birdies in his round. Sutton has averaged a 38.4 score per nine holes — and a 76.0 score per 18 holes — for Legion Collegiate this season. The Lancers are participating in the state golf championships this week.

Taylor Thomas, Clover track: The Blue Eagles’ senior qualified for the state meet in the discus, javelin and shotput at the 5A state qualifier at Spring Valley on May 14-15. Thomas threw a personal-best (35-6) in the discus to finish seventh in that event. She also threw a 95-6 in the javelin throw — which is a personal- and school-record — and notched a 109-6 in the shotput at the state qualifier, too.

Reade Ward, Chester golf: The Cyclones’ sophomore shot a team-best 88 to finish tied for 24th at the 3A Upper State Championships at Legacy Pines’ Golf Club in Greenville on May 10. The Chester boys’ golf team finished 13th as a team at Upper States.

Grant Witherspoon, Indian Land track: The senior was the only Indian Land track athlete to qualify for the state meet. He did so by running a 15.77 in the 110-meter hurdles and a personal-best 58.46 in the 400-meter hurdles — each time good enough for fourth place — at the 4A state qualifier at York on May 15.

Vote and see full results here

If you can’t view the poll on your mobile device, click here.

How to nominate

Player of the week awards highlight high school players with outstanding performances. The goal is to recognize all athletes — both the most accomplished and the underrated or underappreciated players. If you want to suggest someone to be included in the ballot in future weeks, send an email to Jay Edwards at edwardswork23@gmail.com. Please include the athlete’s name, school, class and applicable game performance statistics. Coaches must be willing to verify information. The Herald reserves the right to remove a name from the poll at its discretion.

This story was originally published May 17, 2021 at 3:41 PM.

Alex Zietlow

The Herald

Alex Zietlow writes about sports and the ways in which they intersect with life in York, Chester and Lancaster counties for The Herald, where he has been an editor and reporter since August 2019. Zietlow has won nine S.C. Press Association awards in his career, including First Place finishes in Feature Writing, Sports Enterprise Writing and Education Beat Reporting. He also received two Top-10 awards in the 2021 APSE writing contest and was nominated for the 2022 U.S. Basketball Writers Association’s Rising Star award for his coverage of the Winthrop men’s basketball team.