Vote: Who is the SBLive Polk County Baseball Player of the Week (3/18/2024)?

Vote for one of these 13 top candidates

Bill Kemp | Mar 18, 2024

Vote: Who is the SBLive Polk County Baseball Player of the Week (3/18/2024)? /

The Florida High School baseball season is here and we begin our Player of the Week polls for areas all around the state. Teams have started off the regular season with some great individual performances.

As such, we have 13 athletes nominated this week for the SBLive’s Polk County high school baseball player of the week award from March 11-16, and we ask you, the fans, to help decide who should indeed be the top athlete selected. Voting will conclude on Sunday, March 24th at 11:59 p.m. The winner will be announced in next week's poll.

Here are this week's nominees:

Alex Trujillo, Lake Region, Junior

He went 2-for-4 against Frostproof. He is hitting .667 on the season.

Jaden Sweeney, Mulberry, Junior

He went all five innings to beat Auburndale 11-1. He scattered four hits, walked one and struck out six.

Hayden Wyatt, Mulberry, Junior

He went 4-for-5 with three RBIs and a home run against Inspirational Academy.

Nicolas Infante, Four Corners, Junior

He went 2-for-4 with two hits, two runs scored and an RBI against Discover.

Braden Smith, George Jenkins, Junior

He pitched all seven innings of a three-hit shutout against Wellington. He struck out six and walked one.

Hunter Benjamin, Discovery, Junior

He went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a triple against Kathleen.

Luke Thornton, Frostproof, Junior

He went 2-for-4 with an RBI against Kathleen.

Joshua Brewer, Frostproof, Senior

He went 3-for-4 with an RBI and double against Lake Gibson.

Gavin Stedman, Santa Fe Catholic, Junior

He pitched a two-hit shutout against Fort Meade. He struck out 10 and walked two.

Jeremiah Cabrera, Fort Meade, Senior

He went six innings in a 4-0 win against North Port. He gave up two hits and struck out four.

Austin Peddycourt, McKeel Academy, Senior

He pitched five innings of shutout baseball during a 2-0 win over Lakeland. He gave up three hits and struck out five.

Brysen Woods, Lake Wales, Sophomore

He went 3-for-3 with a double and two runs scored during a 9-4 win over East Ridge.

Caiden Whittenton, Victory Christian, Junior

He went 3-for-4 with a triple and an RBI during a 7-3 loss to Tarpon Springs.

Published Mar 18, 2024

BILL KEMP

Bill Kemp is an award-winning sports journalist at the state and national levels. Over the course of 25 years, he’s covered more than 4,000 sporting events including the NFL regular season, playoffs and Super Bowls, Major League Baseball regular season and spring training, NASCAR racing at Daytona and Talladega International Speedways and major college football regular seasons and bowl games. He was named by the Associated Press Sports Editors as a Top 10 sports columnist and Top 3 by the Alabama Press Association for best sports column and sports page design. He has served as preps editor at the Lakeland Ledger as well as sports editor at five different newspapers in Florida and Alabama. He has been published in dozens of newspapers including USA Today, the Miami Herald, the Orlando Sentinel, the Jacksonville Times Union and the Tampa Bay Times. He holds a bachelor's degree from the University of South Florida. He has been writing for SBLive Sports since 2022.