KALAMAZOO, MI –– Spring is officially here and athletes from around Southwest Michigan are eager to showcase their talents. Now, it’s time to recognize them appropriately –– it’s the second Athlete of the Week poll of the 2025 season. There’re 47 athletes to select from in this week’s poll, and it’s a loaded field of worthy candidates with spectacular individual performances. Cast your vote for Athlete of the Week as often as you’d like until the poll closes at 9 a.m. on Friday, April 18, 2025. If you’d like to nominate an athlete for future considerations, please email stats to MLive sports reporter Matthew Ehler at mehler@mlive.com. If you can’t find the poll, click here instead. Mario Moralez, Kalamazoo Christian baseball The senior came up clutch and played hero for the Comets last Wednesday, slapping a walk-off RBI double to lift his team to a thrilling 3-2 victory over Kalamazoo Hackett in extra innings. Moralez threw 6 1/3 innings with eight strikeouts as well, allowing two earned runs and six hits. London Hoffmaster, Three Rivers softball Hoffmaster was the hero last Wednesday, blasting a two-run walk-off homer to send Three Rivers to a thrilling 7-6 victory over Vicksburg. Jackson Bennett, Loy Norrix baseball The senior blanked rival Kalamazoo Central last week, allowing just two hits and two walks across five innings with an impressive nine strikeouts to lift the Knights to a 7-0 win. Tyler Baker, Comstock baseball The senior broke Comstock’s all-time strikeout record last Thursday against Bloomingdale, recording 10 punchouts in a 10-0 victory. Baker now has over 250-plus strikeouts in his career. Demarcus Owens, Kalamazoo Central track The senior won the 400-meter run (49.46) and finished in a new personal best time, helping K-Central take third at Saturday’s Ram Classic. Dewey Young, Kalamazoo Central baseball The sophomore hit a pair of homers last week, including a grand slam in K-Central’s 10-8 loss to Gull Lake on Thursday. Young finished the week with six hits, 10 RBI and six runs scored. Daisy Jackson, Gobles softball Jackson was red hot at the plate for Gobles last week, mashing four homers –– including two in a win over Saugatuck on Monday –– and finishing with 11 RBI and eight runs scored to lift the Tigers to four straight wins. Tro Fellings, Kalamazoo Central baseball The senior dazzled in a pair of starts last week, striking out a combined 17 and allowing just four hits and two walks to lift K-Central to a pair of wins. Annie Alkema, Kalamazoo Central track The senior won the 3,200-meter run and finished in a new personal best time of 11:10.11 at Saturday’s Ram Classic, helping the Maroon Giants finish fifth overall. Sienna Potter, Decatur softball The senior was on fire at the plate last week, recording a team-high 11 hits including two homers, four doubles and 12 RBI, while adding 13 runs scored and seven walks. Potter’s hitting prowess allowed the Raiders to post a six-game winning streak. Daniella Richardson, Kalamazoo Central tennis The senior stayed unbeaten to start 2025 thanks to five victories last week, including three straight set wins. Aaliyah Young, Kalamazoo Central track The junior won the 300-meter hurdles and finished in a new personal best time of 46.81 seconds at Saturday’s Ram Classic, helping the Maroon Giants finish fifth overall. Young also took third in the 300-meter hurdles (16.08). Cooper Juday, Constantine baseball Juday came up clutch and played hero for Constantine on Saturday, lacing a two-run walk-off single in the eighth inning to lift the Falcons to a thrilling 4-3 victory over Sturgis. Addison Lehmann, Kalamazoo Central softball The senior continues to shine as K-Central’s two-way star, a big reason why the Maroon Giants have won their first 11 games. Lehmann hit .727 last week, including four doubles, a triple and a homer, while adding 14 RBI, 13 runs scored and 10 stolen bases. In the circle, she racked up 45 strikeouts in 21 innings, posting a 4-0 record and allowing just two earned runs. Marek Butkiewicz, Kalamazoo Hackett track The junior won the 1,600-meter run (4:24.83) at Thursday’s Ralph Rice Invitational, while also finishing third in the 3,200-meter run (9:21.28), which was a new personal record. Davarion Phillips, Loy Norrix track The junior won the long jump with a new personal best leap of 22-feet, 7.5-inches at Friday’s Huskie Invitational, while also being a part of the Knights’ first place 800-meter relay (1:31.88) team. Madi Dotson, South Haven softball Dotson helped South Haven post a 6-1 record last week by doing damage at the plate, recording 11 total hits including two doubles, a homer and 15 RBI, while adding seven runs scored. David Verduzco, Kalamazoo Hackett baseball The junior threw a seven-inning no-hitter in last Wednesday’s extra-inning 3-2 loss to Kalamazoo Christian. Verduzco finished with five strikeouts to just two walks, and sent the game into extras with a clutch RBI knock in the seventh inning. Mason Mayne, Lawton track The senior won both the shot put (56-feet, 3-inches) and the discus (172-feet, 1-inch) at Friday’s Comstock Invite. His throw in the discus was a new season best. Kane Morris, Portage Northern track The sophomore won the 100-meter (11.07) and 200-meter (22.50) dashes at Friday’s Huskie Invitational –– both of which were new personal records. Isabelle Horvath, Bangor softball Horvath continued to shine last week, helping the Vikings record six straight wins thanks to her work done in the circle. She recorded 64 strikeouts across 26 innings, allowing just six hits, two walks and no earned runs in five games pitched, while adding seven hits including four doubles, six RBI, and eight runs scored at the plate. Cameron Cropsey, Decatur baseball The senior came up big at the plate last week, leading the Raiders in hits (10) and RBI (13), while adding four stolen bases, which propelled Decatur to six straight wins. Jackson Lam, Loy Norrix track The junior won the 1,600-meter (4:17.22) and the 3,200-meter (9:50.16) events at Friday’s Huskie Invitational –– both of which were new personal records. Mauriel Seeberger, Portage Northern track The sophomore won the 200-meter (25.03) and the 400-meter (56.10) events at Friday’s Huskie Invitational –– both of which were new personal records. Alex Robbins, Otsego track The junior took first in the shot put (50-4) and discus (145-4) at Friday’s Allegan Invitational, while also claiming a new personal best first place finish in the discus (156-10) at Tuesday’s dual meet with Three Rivers. Justin Hendrix, Constantine track The senior holds the best long jump in Division 3 after last Monday’s showing, leaping to a new personal best of 21-feet, 5.5-inches at a meet with Delton Kellogg and Galesburg-Augusta. Brenna McDonald, Schoolcraft track/softball The senior won both the shot put (36-8) and the discus (124-4) at last Friday’s Allegan Invitational. McDonald has seven first place finishes in 2025 so far. McDonald also recorded five hits with a double, a homer and seven RBI for the Eagles’ softball team last week. Emma Hoffman, Otsego track The junior won both the 1,600-meter (5:03.63) and the 3,200-meter (10:19.98) events at Friday’s Allegan Invitational. Hoffman’s time in the 3,200 was a new personal best and is the fastest time in all of Division 2 this season. Jayden VandenAkker, Allegan track The junior won both the 100-meter (14.96) and 300-meter hurdles (46.37) at Friday’s Allegan Invitational –– both of which were new personal records. Grady Mateson, Delton Kellogg golf The sophomore took first place by carding a four-over 75 at the Kent Enyard Invitational last week, helping the Panthers also secure first place overall. Mateson finished with five birdies, including three of them on par 3s. Riley Briggs, Vicksburg golf The senior finished tied for first place overall at the Greater Kalamazoo Championship thanks to scoring a three-over 75 last week. Briggs recorded two birdies and pared seven of the nine holes on the back nine. Spencer Shearer, Otsego golf The senior finished tied for first place overall at the Greater Kalamazoo Championship thanks to scoring a three-over 75 last week. Shearer heated up on the back nine and recorded three birdies. Ben Liddell, Portage Central golf The junior won the first SMAC-West jamboree last Monday by scoring an even par 36, which featured one birdie and six pars. Jaxon Chapdelaine, Gull Lake golf The sophomore won the SMAC-East jamboree last Monday by scoring an even par 37, which featured two birdies and five pars. Tessa Cothron, Gull Lake soccer The sophomore scored Gull Lake’s lone goal in a 1-all draw against Byron Center on Friday. Cothron received a through ball over the top from Kilee Halladay and chipped the Bulldogs’ goaltender for the first half equalizer. Tiara Ellis, Lawton soccer Ellis scored a pair of goals to help Lawton earn a 4-0 victory over Bridgman last Wednesday. Abram Coffey, Marcellus baseball The sophomore led the Wildcats with 13 hits including six doubles and a triple, while adding 14 RBI, 12 runs scored and eight stolen bases in five straight victories last week. Coffey also pitched in two games, allowing two earned runs and two walks with 19 strikeouts. Jakob Huber, Marcellus baseball Huber dominated on the mound last week, tossing two six-inning shutout gems with a combined 24 strikeouts in a pair of victories over White Pigeon and Gobles. Huber allowed just three hits across two starts. Ethan Bouma, Mattawan baseball Bouma is enjoying a three-game hitting streak including a stellar doubleheader last week against St. Joseph, where he finished with four hits –– two of which were doubles. Elizabeth Vanderburg, Paw Paw softball Vanderburg mashed a trio of home runs in Paw Paw’s sweep of Three Rivers last week, finishing with five RBI, five runs scored and six total hits. Kat Dreier, Parchment softball The senior hit a pair of homers and helped Parchment post a 3-1 record last week. Dreier finished with six total hits and seven runs scored. Andrew Lehto, Paw Paw baseball Lehto shined as Paw Paw’s two-way standout last week, finishing with a team-high seven hits including a double, a triple, five RBI and six runs scored. He also pitched five innings of one-run ball, allowing two walks and four hits and racking up eight strikeouts. Leah Ostlund, Schoolcraft softball Ostlund came up clutch and capped Schoolcraft’s five-run rally on Saturday, hitting a two-run walk-off single to propel the Eagles to a thrilling 12-11 victory over Gull Lake. Kaleb Williams, Three Rivers baseball The senior tossed a sparkling complete game gem last Wednesday, allowing just four hits and one walk across seven innings with three strikeouts in a 5-1 win. Kayla Chisholm, Vicksburg softball The junior belted a pair of homers and led the Bulldogs with 15 RBI, three doubles and 11 runs scored. Alex Lorenzo, Portage Central tennis The senior kept her unbeaten record intact by winning seven matches last week, including three straight set victories. Addy Fales, Allegan tennis The junior kept her unbeaten record intact by winning three matches last week –– all in straight set fashion.