EDITOR'S NOTE: The Swnews4u.com Athlete of the Week is a web-only feature that will publish each Thursday throughout the calendar year.
Tanner Reuter, Sr., OF/P, Lancaster baseball
Tanner Reuter has had one of the hottest bats in the Southwest Wisconsin Conference over the past week. He went 9-for-16 with three doubles, nine runs scored, six stolen bases and five RBIs, including the game-winning hit over SWAL-leading Darlington last Thursday. He also picked up a pair of wins on the mound in the past week, as the surging Flying Arrows won four of five games. The senior center fielder/pitcher is this week’s Mast Water Technology Athlete of the Week.
Last Tuesday, Reuter went a perfect 3-for-3 with a pair of doubles and three RBIs from his customary lead off spot to lead the Flying Arrows (9–5, 2–3 SWC) to a 12–0 win at Richland Center. He also earned the win on the mound, pitching four scoreless innings holding the Hornets to just three hits. Reuter then played the role of hero in Thursday’s 6–5 eight-inning victory over Darlington with a walk-off RBI single that drove in Mack Mundy. He finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored and a pair of steals. Reuter also earned the win in the game, pitching a perfect 1-2-3 top of the eighth inning as Lancaster’s fourth pitcher of the game. After an off game in Friday’s 8–7 loss at Platteville, Reuter bounced back with a 2-for-3 game Saturday, including an RBI double, in an 8–5 win at East Dubuque. He then went 2-for-2 with three walks, three runs scored in Tuesday’s 7–4 non-conference win at Cuba City.
Reuter is now batting .375 (18-for-48), after raising his average nearly .100 points with his sizzling week, with four doubles, one triple eight RBIs, a team-high 19 runs and a team-best 13 stolen bases.
HONORABLE MENTION (in alphabetical order):
Josh Henrich, Sr., Lancaster boys golf
Hentrich is putting together a late push for this year’s Southwester Wisconsin Conference Player of the Year honor. He moved into first place in the individual SWC standings by winning medalist honors in two of his team’s last three meets. Last Tuesday, the Lancaster senior claimed a share of medalist honors at the River Valley SWC at the House on the Rock Resort with a 2-over-par round of 38. Two days later, he won medalist honors with an even par 36 at the Richland Center SWC at Quail Run Golf Course. Monday he shot a 3-over-par 37 on the par 34 front-nine at the Dodgeville SWC meet at Dodge–Point Country Club. Hentrich then finished second at Tuesday's Platteville SWC and enters Tuesday's SWC Championships at Viroqua Hills with a one-point lead of River Valley senior Derek Wedige in the individual confernece standings.
Maranda McCarthy, Sr., P, Iowa–Grant softball
The senior pitcher went 9-for-15 with four doubles, one triple and seven RBIs, and pitched the SWAL-leading Panthers to five straight victories in the past week. She went 2-for-3 with two doubles and a pair of RBIs in Southwestern’s 18–7 win over second-place Southwestern last Tuesday. She then went 2-for-3 with two more doubles and a pair of RBIs and held Riverdale to just one hit in an 18–2 win at Riverdale last Thursday. She also went went 3-for-3 and struck out six in a 12–2 five-inning win over Darlington on Monday. McCarthy then picked up both wins in a double-header with Boscobel and Highland on Tuesday. Iowa–Grant improved to 15–1, 11–0 in the Southwestern Wisconsin Activities League with Tuesday’s victories.
Hannah Riley, Jr., Lancaster girls softball
Riley went 7-for-13 with a homer and seven RBIs and struck out 23 batters in 26 innings and picked up the win in every game of Lancaster’s recent four-game winning streak. Riley went 2-for-3 with a pair of RBIs and struck out five in a five-inning complete game to lead Lancaster to a 12–1 victory over Prairie du Chien on April 25. Riley then went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs and picked up another win in the pitching circle in last Tuesday’s 11–5 win at Richland Center. Last Thursday, the junior hurler belted a game-tying solo homer in the fourth inning and held Platteville to just one run on three hits in a 2–1 as the Hillmen moved into second-place in the league standings. Riley had another two-hit, two-RBI game and struck out seven to pick up her fourth straight win in a 7–2 non-conference game win at Riverdale. The Arrows are 7–10 overall and 4–4 in the SWC after Tuesday’s loss to Dodgeville.
Brelynn Updike, Sr., Platteville track and field
Updike came from behind to nip Lodi sophomore Isabella Clary at the finish line in the race of the night to win the girls’ 3,200 meters by 0.01 seconds at last Friday’s Edgerton Tider Invitational. Updike’s winning run helped the Hillmen finish fourth out of 11 teams at the meet. She also helped the Platteville 4x800 relay finish fourth. Updike won the 1,600 and was on the winning 4x400 and 4x800 relays at last Tuesday’s Platteville quadrangular.
Nathan Wedige, Sr., Shullsburg/Benton baseball
The senior went 10-for-21 with six RBIs and six runs scored in the past week to helped the ninth-ranked Shullsburg/Benton co-op (14–3, 9–1 SRC) to five wins in their past six game. Wedige went 2-for-4 with a double and three RBIs in a 12–2 win over Belmont last Tuesday. He also went 4-for-5 with a pair of RBIs and two runs scored in a 12–5 win over Barneveld in the second game of last Friday’s doubleheader. Shullsburg/Benton won game one 6–5. Wedige then went 3-for-3 with two runs scored in a 13–1 win over Potosi on Tuesday.
