MaxPreps/USA Baseball Players of the Week for March 21-27, 2016

DURHAM, N.C. -- USA Baseball and MaxPreps announced on Monday, the MaxPreps USA Baseball Pitcher and Player of the Week Award winners for the week of March 21, 2016, bringing national recognition to the top-performing high school athletes in the country.

Representing eight national regions, -- Great Lakes, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, Northeast, Northwest, Southeast, Southwest and West -- players are selected based upon stats that are submitted to MaxPreps.com by coaches and team administrators. For players to be nominated each week, their coach must enter the athlete's game stats into MaxPreps by Sunday evening. High school coaches may obtain an access code to enter stats for their teams at maxpreps.com/cl.

Due to inclement weather, there is not a Pitcher or Player of the Week announcement for the Northeast region.

The winners for MaxPreps USA Baseball Pitcher/Player of the Week Awards are as follows:

Great Lakes
Pitcher of the Week: Tony Lucito struck out 12 batters in five innings for Illiana Christian High School (Lansing, Ill.) to earn USA Baseball/MaxPreps Great Lakes Pitcher of the Week. A sophomore, Lucito surrendered only one run (unearned) and two walks on the week.

Player of the Week: Austin Gusewelle hit three home runs for Staunton High School (Staunton, Ill.) to receive the nod as the USA Baseball/MaxPreps Great Lakes Player of the Week. Gusewelle went 9-for-12 with seven runs scored and 11 RBIs for a slugging percentage of 1.833.

Mid-Atlantic
Pitcher of the Week: Brandon Ferrara picked up 14 strikeouts in six innings for Thomas McKean High School (Wilmington, Del.) to earn USA Baseball/Max Preps Pitcher of the Week honors. The sophomore surrendered just one hit in the victory.

Player of the Week: Zarion Sharpe hit .818 with five RBIs for The Oakwood School (Greenville, N.C.) and earned the USA Baseball/MaxPreps Mid-Atlantic Player of the Week. Sharpe, a senior, went 9-for-11 with six runs scored.

Midwest
Pitcher of the Week: Ryan Lechner struck out 15 batters for Haskell High School (Haskell, Okla.) to be named the Midwest USA Baseball/MaxPreps Pitcher of the Week. The junior surrendered only one hit, two walks, and gave up zero runs.

Player of the Week: Nick Smith went 13-for-18 with eight runs scored for El Reno High School (El Reno, Okla.) to earn USA Baseball/MaxPreps Midwest Player of the Week honors. Smith hit two home runs and collected 12 RBIs on the week.

Northwest
Pitcher of the Week: Jerrett Plunkett pitched a seven-inning no-hitter for Timberlake High School (Spirit Lake, Idaho) to be named the USA Baseball/MaxPreps Northwest Pitcher of the Week. Plunkett struck out 10 batters and gave up two walks in the victory.

Player of the Week: Zane Phelps hit .818 with eight RBIs for Bayfield High School (Bayfield, Colo.) to earn the USA Baseball/MaxPreps Northwest Player of the Week award. Phelps went 9-for-11 with six runs scored and a walk for the week.

Southeast
Pitcher of the Week: Brax Garrett pitched nine innings of scoreless baseball for Florence High School (Florence, Ala.), including eight innings during the National High School Invitational to be named the Southeast USA Baseball/MaxPreps Pitcher of the Week. Garrett struck out 13 batters and gave up only one walk during the week.

Player of the Week: C. J. Hughes collected 12 RBIs for Terry High School (Terry, Miss.) to earn USA Baseball/MaxPreps Southeast Player of the Week honors. Hughes went 12-for-14 with nine runs scored and four walks.

Southwest
Pitcher of the Week: Tristen Bayless struck out 18 batters for Hutto High School (Hutto, Texas) to be named the USA Baseball/MaxPreps Southwest Pitcher of the Week. Bayless gave up two hits and one walk in seven innings on the week.

Player of the Week: Brandon Talley hit .857 and scored five runs for Princeton High School (Princeton, Texas) to earn USA Baseball/MaxPreps Southwest Player of the Week honors. Talley went 6-for-7 with 13 RBIs and held a slugging percentage of 2.000.

West
Pitcher of the Week: Jack Reitsma pitched 7.2 innings of hitless baseball for Central Valley Christian School (Visalia, Calif.) to get the nod for the USA Baseball/MaxPreps West Pitcher of the Week. Reitsma, a junior, struck out 11 batters and gave up two walks in the win.

Player of the Week: Zach Bushling held a slugging percentage of 2.300 and tallied 13 RBIs for Kern Valley High School (Lake Isabella, Calif.) to be named the USA Baseball/MaxPreps West Player of the Week. Bushling, a junior, went 9-for-10 at the plate, hit three home runs, and scored six runs.

About MaxPreps
Founded in August 2002, MaxPreps.com is headquartered in Cameron Park, California, and is a unit of CBS Interactive. MaxPreps is proud to be involved with America's hometown heroes – the young men and women working hard to improve their skills, place team above self and serve as inspirations to their local communities. MaxPreps aspires to cover every team, every game and every player, doing so in collaboration with nearly 100,000 varsity coaches throughout the United States.

About USA Baseball
USA Baseball is the national governing body for the sport of baseball in the United States and is a member of the United States Olympic Committee and the World Baseball Softball Confederation. The organization selects and trains the World Baseball Classic, Premier12 and Pan Am teams (and all other USA Baseball Professional Teams); the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team; the USA Baseball 18U, 15U and 12U National Teams; and the USA Baseball Women's National Team, all of which participate in various international competitions each year. The organization is responsible for the continued proliferation and health of the sport, and leads a number of amateur initiatives including PLAYBALL and Pitch Smart. USA Baseball also presents the Golden Spikes Award annually to the top amateur baseball player in the country. For more information, please visit the organization's official websites: USABaseball.com, PLAYBALL.org, PitchSmart.org, GoldenSpikesAward.com and USABaseballShop.com.