Maddie Bruining of Clover softball is The Herald’s Athlete of the Week

Maddie Bruining of the Clover softball team is The Herald’s Athlete of the Week.

The Blue Eagle eighth-grader went 5-for-10 at the plate with five singles, one RBI, four runs scored and three stolen bases as Clover beat Byrnes, Hillcrest and Rock Hill last week.

Bruining, the team’s catcher, also helped Clover to a bid the 5A Upper State championship bracket with a win on Wednesday night over Hillcrest. She drove in Clover’s go-ahead run in the top of the third that effectively punched the Blue Eagles’ ticket to the next round.

There were over 77,670 participants in this week’s poll. Bruining earned 568% of the vote, and Jada Jones of Rock Hill earned 31% of the vote.

Meet all of the nominees below.

Athlete of the Week finalists

Brian Adams, Indian Land track. The Warrior senior won the 400-meter dash in a personal-best time of 50.45 at the Region 3-4A meet at York on May 3. Adams also finished second in the high jump (6-0) and third in both the 4x100 and 4x400-meter relays at the same meet, qualifying for the 4A Upper State championships in all four events.

Maddie Bruining, Clover softball.

Chloe Burger, Catawba Ridge softball. The Copperhead sophomore had 18 strikeouts to earn the victory on the mound in a 6-0 win over Westwood on May 4. Burger also tossed a no-hitter with 12 strikeouts in a 10-0 win over Westside on May 6. Catawba Ridge (22-4) can advance to the 4A Upper State championship bracket with a win on May 11 versus the winner of Westside and Westwood.

Jackson Dawson, Fort Mill track. The Yellow Jacket senior won the 800-meter run (2:00.15), the 1600-meter run (4:26.52) and the 4x400-meter relay (3:26.04) at the Region 3-5A meet at Boiling Springs High on May 5. Dawson’s efforts helped the Fort Mill boys to a runner-up finish to rival Nation Ford.

Madison Griffin, York track. The Cougar senior and Converse signee jumped a personal-best 16-9 to win the long jump at the Region 3-4A meet at York on May 3. Griffin also won the 100-meter dash (12.84), the 200-meter dash (26.32) and was part of the team that won the 4x100-meter relay at the same event.

Jeremiah Hicks, Lancaster track. The Bruin senior jumped personal-bests to win the long jump (22-3) and the triple jump (45-2) at the Region 3-4A meet at York on May 3. The Lancaster boys finished third at the same meet.

Jada Jones, Rock Hill track. The Bearcat senior and Dartmouth signee ran a personal-record 24.14 to win the 200-meter dash at the Region 4-5A meet at Spring Valley on May 4. Jones also ran a personal-best 54.8 to win the 400-meter dash the same day.

Landon Peavy, Andrew Jackson baseball. The Volunteer junior hit two home runs (including a grand-slam) to help lead Andrew Jackson to a 15-0 victory over Timberland in the 2A state playoffs on May 5. Andrew Jackson (27-1-1) is one victory over Timberland away from advancing to the Class 2A Lower State championship bracket.

Yasmin Williams, Great Falls track. The Red Devils won the discus by throwing an 83-7 at the Region 2-1A meet at Lower Richland High on May 5. Williams also finished fifth in the shot put (24-11) and sixth in the javelin (54-9) at the same meet.

Daniel Villa, Nation Ford soccer. The Falcon senior goalkeeper had two critical saves on penalty kicks to lead Nation Ford to a win over TL Hanna in the second round of the 5A state playoffs on May 4. Villa also helped Nation Ford to a 5-0 win over Northwestern in the opening round of the playoffs, and he had four saves in a 1-0 double-overtime loss to Dorman in the third round of the playoffs. Villa had allowed less than one goal per game while playing over 1,100 minutes in goal for Nation Ford (15-8-1) this season.

See full results here

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How to nominate

Athlete of the Week awards highlight high school players with outstanding performances. The goal is to recognize all athletes — both the accomplished and the underrated/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 9, 2022 at 2:18 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.