Update: Athlete of the week, Tulare Union's Maris Pinheiro

Tulare Union High School softball player Maris Pinheiro was voted by readers as the Visalia Times-Delta Tulare County prep athlete of the week.

In an online poll that closed on May 27, Pinheiro received 7,817 votes, or a 57.5% majority, of the 13,928 responses.

Pinheiro had three hits, including a double and triple, and finished with an RBI to help the Tribe win a first-round postseason game over Reedley. She also scored two runs.

Editor's note: Anyone can nominate an athlete of the week for every sport. Nominate next week's ballot through email. Readers can email nominations to sports reporter Vongni Yang at vyang2@gannett.com. Please include a player's statistics and a photo if possible.

All high school varsity players from Tulare County are eligible to be placed on the ballot. Nominations must be received by Monday morning following that week's games for consideration.

Original story: Visalia Times-Delta/Tulare Advance-Register readers can now vote for their favorite prep athletes of the week at the newspaper's website, visaliatimesdelta.com. The poll closes at noon on Friday.

Please do not email your votes.

Here are the choices for the week of May 23-27:

• Morgan Hunter, softball, Monache. Hunter, a pitcher, fired 12 strikeouts in a two-hit performance as the Marauders defeated Frontier in a playoff game. She also finished with three hits and two RBIs.

• Eric Lemus, baseball, Lindsay. Lemus registered five strikeouts in six innings in the Cardinals' postseason victory over Caruthers.

• Maris Pinheiro, softball, Tulare Union. Pinheiro had three hits, including a double and triple, and finished with an RBI to help the Tribe win a first-round postseason game over Reedley. She also scored two runs.

• B.J. Rodriguez, baseball, Tulare Western. Rodriguez tossed his first career complete game, hurling seven strikeouts in seven innings to pilot the Mustangs to a playoff win over Mt. Whitney.

• Kannon Silva, baseball, Mission Oak. Silva earned the win in the Hawks' playoff victory against McLane. He hurled four strikeouts in four innings.

• Rashelle Ver Steeg, softball, Mt. Whitney. Ver Steeg went 3-for-4 hitting and scored four runs to help the Pioneers defeat McLane in a first-round playoff showdown.

Anyone (coaches, parents, teammates, teachers, friends, etc.) can nominate an athlete of the week for every sport.

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Nominate next week's ballot through email to sports reporter Vongni Yang at vyang2@visaliatimesdelta.com.

Nominations are based on information made available to the Times-Delta. Please include statistics and a photo with your submission.

All high school varsity players from Tulare County are eligible to be placed on the ballot. Nominations must be received by Monday morning following that week's games for consideration.

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Vongni Yang is a sports reporter for the Visalia Times-Delta/Tulare Advance-Register. He covers Tulare County sports. Follow him on Twitter @Vongni. To support his continued coverage of local sports, subscribe today. 

This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: Update: Athlete of the week, Tulare Union's Maris Pinheiro