Each week, our HomeTeam staffers nominate male and female Hot Shot athletes from each of the counties we cover. Then we turn the voting over to readers. These nominations span Saturday, April 26 through Friday, May 2. The winners get a T-shirt and bragging rights over every other school in the area. Read up on all of our nominees then vote until noon Monday.
Female nominees
Nicole Carroll, Tampa Catholic track: The junor repeated in the pole vault in Friday's Class 2A state meet, clearing a career-best and school-record 12 feet for gold.
Emalee Jansen, Carrollwood Day softball: The freshman ace delivered a masterpiece in the region semifinals: Four hits allowed in a 2-1 victory over Lakeland Christian.
Bobbi LaBrant, Indian Rocks Christian track: The versatile junior won her first state title in the pole vault, clearing 10 feet in wet, windy conditions at the Class A state meet
Brittany McGee, Admiral Farragut track: The junior won the first state titles of her career at the Class A state meet, taking first in the 100 hurdles (14.83) and 300 hurdles (46.44). She also was third in the long jump (18-3 1/4).
Desiree' Nathe, Bishop McLaughlin track: The senior had to pass on running the 200 and 400 in the postseason because of sore knees, but the decision to focus on the high jump paid off with a 5-2 leap for gold at state track, the first state title, boys or girls or team, of any kind in Bishop McLaughlin's short history.
Alfreda Steele, Pasco track: Steele turned in the greatest state track performance for a girl in Pirates' history, finishing second in the long jump and 100 and winning the 200, the first-ever state title for a Pasco girl.
Male nominees
Dante Bosnic, Berkeley Prep baseball: The Brown commit pitched five innings of the Bucs' 7-0 region quarterfinal win against Lakeland McKeel. Bosnic threw 47 pitches, 37 for strikes, and allowed just two hits. He threw just nine pitches in the fifth inning, striking out three batters.
David Castillo, Sunlake baseball: He allowed only one earned run off of three hits while striking out 11 batters in a 2-1 win over perennial power Hernando in the region quarterfinals. It was the first playoff victory in Seahawks history.
Alex Goebel, Wiregrass Ranch baseball: The junior catcher hit a walk-off single to leftfield to lift Wiregrass Ranch over Brandon in the region quarterfinal with a 3-2 win in the bottom of the seventh inning. Wiregrass Ranch trailed the Eagles heading into the seventh frame, but the Bulls walked and strung together a pair of singles, the last from Goebel, to advance.
Ahmad Middleton, Dunedin track: At the Class 2A state meet, the senior won his first title in the 300 hurdles in 37.12, a time that is second-fastest in the state and seventh-fastest in the nation. He also was third in the long jump (22-0 1/2).
Steven Plaskett, East Lake baseball: There were many heroes in East Lake's 2-1 region quarterfinal win over Sarasota, but Plaskett came up big in the final innings. He relieved Brad Deppermann in the eighth and allowed no hits and struck out five to earn the win. In the bottom of the 10th, Plaskett got the Sailors, the No. 9 team nationally by USA Today, in order to end the game.
Kyle Tucker, Plant baseball: The junior centerfielder hit his state-leading ninth home run of the season in the Panthers' 10-0 region quarterfinal win against St. Petersburg. Tucker leads Plant with a .416 batting average and 32 RBIs.