Mason County Central baseball player wins CatchMark SportsNet Player of Week (April 1-6, 2024)

Mason County Central’s baseball team will be relying heavily upon senior Owen Shimel during the 2024 season.

Even though the Spartans were swept by Reed City in last Saturday’s nonleague doubleheader, the lefty did the job with his arm and bat.

This week, Shimel was recognized for his efforts. He was voted the CatchMark SportsNet West Michigan Conference Player of the Week. Shimel piled up 9,198 of 18,271 total votes in the first fan poll of the spring sports season, which recognized six athletes for their performances April 1-6, 2024.

Manistee girls soccer player Piper Eskridge finished runner-up in the poll with 6,350 votes. See complete voting totals at the bottom of this story for this week’s Player of the Week poll, which is title-sponsored by Complete Restoration & Cleaning Services, Inc.

Shimel made his presence felt in both of MCC’s games in last Saturday’s nonleague doubleheader at Reed City. In the Spartans’ 5-4 loss in Game 1, Shimel got the start on the mound and he allowed two hits and one earned run with five strikeouts and one walk in 2 1/3 innings. During MCC’s 12-8 loss in Game 2, Shimel went 1-for-1 with a homer, two walks, and three runs scored.