Home News Tribune Softball Player of the Week ballot: Week 2

The season's third full week is about to get underway and it's time to look back at the top performances from Week 2.

Here are the Home News Tribune Player of the Week nominations:

ERIN FITZSIMMONS

Sayreville

Senior, pitcher

Fitzsimmons was near-untouchable this past week for the Bombers. She went 3-0, striking out 38 and walking five over 21 innings. She allowed only eight hits over that span and gave up just one earned run. She threw consecutive shutouts against Piscataway and Spotswood, two Top 10 teams. She also collected two hits at the plate in the Piscataway and Spotswood wins.

CINDY FORESTA

MONROE

Senior, third baseman

Foresta collectively hit two homers, tripled, and drove in 10 runs over a four-game span. Her best effort was a 4-for-5 day where she drove in six in a epic, see-saw affair against South Plainfield that Monroe ultimately lost 13-12. She also had a big day earlier in the week against Colonia where she went 3-for-4 with a homer, triple, four RBI, and three runs and is hitting .565 on the season.

JACKIE RILEY

Cardinal McCarrick

Senior, pitcher

The St. Peter's-bound ace won two of her three decisions this week including a perfect game on Saturday against Brooklyn Tech, where she struck out 19 of the 21 batters she faced. Riley struck out 15 and 13 batters, respectively, in her other two decisions while walking a total of just one batter over 20 innings pitched. She also performed at the plate, going 3-for-4 with two RBI in a loss to Spotswood and then went 2-for-3 with a home run and five RBI in a win over Mother Seton.

ASHLI VENOKUR

East Brunswick

Junior, catcher

The slugging catcher sure showed off her power this past week - Venokur slugged four home runs over East Brunswick's five games, including three in a 14-2 win over Conwell-Egan as the Bears went 4-1 in those five games. She also had a three-hit effort in a win over South Brunswick and is hitting .478 on the season.

Poll closes at 8 p.m. Thursday. Winner will be featured in the weekly softball notebook, online Friday afternoon and in print in Saturday's edition of the Home News Tribune.

See updated voting totalsHERE. Will be updated at least once daily until voting closes on Thursday.