Des Arc junior pitcher Kaylee McDonald has been named the TeamFunded Player of the Week following a dominant week in the circle. She led the Lady Eagles to a 2A-6 conference-opening victory over Carlisle, then three wins over Izard County, Bald Knob and Tuckerman to win the Lady Eagles’ bracket of the Heber Springs Invitational.
McDonald struck out 57 batters in 24 innings, a solid average of 2.4 per inning, and gave up only 10 hits, four runs – all unearned to finish with a perfect .000 earned run average – and walked four. She also batted .402 at the plate. For the three games in the Heber Springs invitational, McDonald struck out 44 batters in 17 innings.
PHOTO CREDIT: Chris McDonald
McDonald is not only one of the state’s best players, but also in the region or even nationally, and is committed to play for the Southern Miss Eagles. She also succeeds in the classroom, maintaining a 4.0 GPA and is a member of both the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and Beta Club.
Additional finalists: Pristina Cunningham (Little Rock Central), Kenzie Freeman (Hackett), Jalea Hawthorn (Cutter-Morning Star), Presley Ward (Gentry)
Coaches or Athletic Directors, please send nominations to Kyle Sutherland – kyle@naturalstatesports.com
Previous winners: Sarena Myers, Hector (03/11)
Kyle Sutherland is a journalist and podcast host (Arkansas Preps Weekly) for The Natural State Sports Network. His written work has been featured in outlets including the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Best of Arkansas Sports and Hooten’s Arkansas Football. He is also the color commentator for 103.7 The Buzz’s high school football Game of the Week. Email Kyle at kyle@naturalstatesports.com.