General 3/25/2024 2:30:00 PM United East Athletes of the Week - March 25, 2024 LATHAM, N.Y. - The United East conference has announced its Athletes of the Week for March 25, 2024. This includes Athletes of the Week for both the Skye and Volt Divisions in Baseball and Softball as well as Men’s Volleyball, Women’s Lacrosse, and Men’s Lacrosse. This week’s selections included contests from Monday, March 18 through Sunday, March 24. A total of 14 student-athletes were recognized for their performances. Men’s Volleyball Offensive Player of the Week Jake Rotelle / So / Lancaster Bible College / Honey Brook, Pa. / Terre Hill Mennonite Rotelle led the Chargers to a 2-0 record in conference play this week, tallying 23 total kills on a .386 hitting percentage over the two matches. Rotelle had a season high of 13 kills at Cairn to go along with 2 digs. In the win versus Wilson on Wednesday, the sophomore had another double-digit day with 10 kills, one block, and one ace. This is the first Player of the Week nod for Rotelle, who was named Honorable Mention All-Conference last season. Defensive Player of the Week Ben Latham / So / Lancaster Bible College / Orange Park, Fl. / Oakleaf HS Latham continues to lead the Chargers backline which hasn't given up a set in the past five games. The sophomore tallied 21 total digs and four assists for the week with 11 of those digs coming in a 3-0 win at Cairn on Saturday. Latham has tallied 216 total digs for the season averaging 2.84 per set, good enough for second in the conference. This is the third Player of the Week honor for Latham, who previously won for the week of March 18, 2024, and March 4, 2024. Women’s Lacrosse Offensive Player of the Week Sage Lague / Jr / Wilson College / Fairplay, Md. / Goretti HS Lague's skills continue to be a key source of offense as she tallied nine goals and an assist in two games on the week. She opened with a seven-point effort with six goals in a nail-biting 10-8 victory at Marywood on Tuesday. She added a hat trick two days later at Elizabethtown. Lague was also strong on draw controls with six against the Blue Jays. Lague is currently 2nd in the United East with 5.14 Goals per Game as well as 5.86 Points per Game. This is the second Player of the Week nod for Lague, who previously won for the week of March 18, 2024. Lague earned Second Team All-Conference in 2023 to go with a First Team honor in 2022. Defensive Player of the Week Rachael Freeman / Sr / St. Mary’s College of Maryland / Baltimore, Md. / Friends School of Baltimore Rachael Freeman collected nine ground balls, seven draw controls, and four caused turnovers plus one assist in a 1-1 week for the Seahawks. Freeman started the week with four ground balls and a season-best three caused turnovers plus two draw controls in a 20-8 road loss to No. 18 Christopher Newport. She then collected a career-best five draw controls and picked up a season-high five ground balls while dishing her first career assist in a 21-7 conference-opening win over Bryn Athyn. Freeman also picked up her 150th career ground ball in the win over Bryn Athyn. Freeman is a two-time First Team All-Conference honoree as well as the United East Defensive Player of the Year in 2023. This is the first Player of the Week award for Freeman. Men’s Lacrosse Offensive Player of the Week Aiden Doyle / Jr / St. Mary’s College of Maryland / Arnold, Md. / Broadneck HS Doyle helped the Seahawks to a 2-0 week with five goals, five assists, and two ground balls. Doyle started the week with a goal and season-best four assists for a season-high five points plus scooping up a season-best two ground balls in a 22-9 road win over Marymount (Va.). He then matched his season-best five points with a season-high four goals and one helper in a 19-15 comeback win over Messiah. This is the fourth Player of the Week honor for Doyle, who previously won for the weeks of March 13, 2023, March 6, 2023, and March 21, 2022. Doyle was the United East Rookie of the Year and First Team awardee in the 2022 season. Defensive Player of the Week Alex Hammond / So / Penn College / Lincoln University, Pa. / Avon Grove HS Hammond collected 21 saves to just nine goals allowed and helped the Wildcats go 2-0 against Juniata and Alvernia. The Wildcats' goalkeeper posted 11 saves and surrendered just one goal for a .917 save percentage in 30 minutes against Juniata on Wednesday. Hammond followed that with 10 saves (.556 save percentage) in a win against Alvernia on Saturday. This is the first Player of the Week nod for Hammond who is 3rd in the United East with a .516 Saves Percentage and 4th with a 11.43 Goals Against Average in 9 games and over 400 minutes in net. Softball Player of the Week - Skye Division Anabelle Hafner / FY / Notre Dame of Maryland University / Dundalk, Md. / Mercy HS Hafner was electric in NDMU's sweep over Gallaudet. In game one of the double header, Hafner went 4-5 out of the leadoff spot including blasting a double and a triple, drove in an RBI, and stole two bases, including pulling off a steal of home. She kept the momentum going in game two, going 2-4 with a double and crushing her first career home run to the opposite field. On the week, Hafner hit .400 (6-for-15) with 3 runs scored, 3 RBI, 3 doubles, a triple, a home run, and 2 stolen bases. This is the first Player of the Week nod for Hafner. Pitcher of the Week - Skye Division Kylee Miller / FY / Clarks Summit University / Chambersburg, Pa. / Chambersburg Area HS In a 12-0 victory over Penn State Scranton, Miller faced two over the minimum enroute to a shutout victory for the Defenders. Though the game was run-shortened to a 5-inning matchup, Miller faced 17 batters and struck out 11 of them while giving up only two hits. After a first inning base hit with 2 outs, Miller retired the next eight batters with seven of them coming via strikeout, before the final base hit came in the 4th inning with one out. Miller currently leads the United East with a 1.27 ERA. This is the first Player of the Week honor for Miller and first Pitcher of the Week for Clarks Summit University. Player of the Week - Volt Division Phoebe Clemens / Sr / Lancaster Bible College / Honey Brook, Pa. / Homeschool Clemens batted .583 as the Chargers went 2-2 on the week. Going 7-12 from the plate, Clemens racked up six RBIs and registered an inside the park grand slam against Valley Forge. She also registered three runs and two stolen bases. Clemens is hitting a team best .450 with 18 hits and 15 runs. Clemens was named First Team All-Conference in 2023 and Second Team for the 2021 and 2022 seasons. This is the third Player of the Week nod for Clemens, who previously won for the weeks of March 27, 2023, and March 13, 2023. Pitcher of the Week - Volt Division Paige Brightwell / FY / Penn State Berks / Pittstown, N.J. / Delaware Valley HS Brightwell went 2-1 in the circle this week as Berks picked up a win over Wilkes on Monday afternoon where Brightwell threw 7.0 Innings, scattered 8 hits, and struck out three batters. Brightwell picked up a shutout win over Albright in Game One of the doubleheader on Tuesday, throwing a complete game with 7 Innings Pitched, scattering 8 hits, and striking out three batters. On Thursday, Brightwell held Gwynedd Mercy in check throwing 6 Innings with five strikeouts before ultimately falling 3-2 to the Griffins. This is the first Pitcher of the Week award for Brightwell. Baseball Player of the Week - Skye Division Harry Middlebrooks / FY / Wilson College / Bel Air, Md. / Archbishop Curley Middlebrooks had a monstrous week where he was a primary source of offense for Wilson who went 3-1 which included a sweep of division foe St. Elizabeth. Middlebrooks had splits of .625/.667/.688 after going a combined 10-for-16, 11 RBIs, six runs, a double, four walks, six stolen bases, and one sacrifice fly. In doing so he increased his hit streak to 12 games and has had multiple hits in the past five games. All six stolen bases and 10 of his RBIs came in the series against the Eagles. He's second on the team and third in the conference with a .444 batting average to help the Phoenix have the fifth best team batting average in Division III at .362. This is the first Player of the Week nod for Middlebrooks. Pitcher of the Week - Skye Division Sean Brennan / Jr / Keystone College / Hatfield, Pa. / North Penn HS In Keystone's conference opener against Cairn, Brennan pitched seven innings where he allowed zero earned runs off four hits and struck out 10 to help lead the Giants to their first United East Skye Division win on Friday. This is the second consecutive start where Brennan has struck out at least 10 batters in a game. This is the second pitcher of the week award for Brennan as he received this honor last week, March 18, 2024. He currently leads Keystone and the conference with 37 strikeouts. Player of the Week - Volt Division Dylan Witkowski / So / Lancaster Bible College / Emmaus, Pa. / Northwestern Lehigh HS The reigning player of the week led the Chargers to a 3-1 week with wins over Albright, Valley Forge, and Penn St. Berks The sophomore hit 9-15 from the plate racking up 10 RBIs, eight runs, and four walks. In the field, Witkowski played second base, right field, and shortstop getting 12 putouts and one double play while also earning a late win on the mound in a 13-12 win over Valley Forge pitching two relief innings. Witkowski is batting .490 with 24 hits and 24 RBIs. This is the second Player of the Week award for Witkowski, who previously won for the week of March 18, 2024. In 2023, Witkowski was a First Team All-Conference honoree as well as a member of the D3baseball.com Third Team All-Region. Pitcher of the Week - Volt Division Josh Berzonski / So / Penn State Harrisburg / Glenville, Pa. / South Western HS Berzonski's late-game prowess continued in a pair of Penn State Harrisburg victories last week. The sophomore reliever threw the final five innings of the team's 8-3 victory over No. 25 York (Pa.) on Tuesday and allowed just one run on two hits and a walk. The lefty struck out seven batters and earned the win over a nationally ranked Spartans team that entered the day averaging 11.3 runs per game. He followed it up by earning the save in a 5-3 win over Stevens on Sunday afternoon, allowing just three baserunners and striking out four Ducks in three innings of relief. For the week, Berzonski recorded one win, one save, and racked up 11 strikeouts in eight innings thrown. This is the second Pitcher of the Week honor for Berzonski, who previously won for the week of March 4, 2024. Berzonski was named to the First Team All-Conference last season as well as an All-Region honoree by both D3baseball.com and the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA). 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