Poll: Who do you think was the best spring high school athlete in Miami-Dade? Vote now.

Miami-Dade County teams finished off another impressive spring sports season with six teams bringing home state championships. The Miami Herald honored several of the players on those squads and others with its spring sports players of the year in the sports of baseball, softball, track and field, tennis, water polo, volleyball, lacrosse, flag football and badminton.

As it does annually, the Miami Herald will select its overall Athletes of the Year and reveal those winners next week. But while this will not have a bearing on those results, the Herald is asking who YOU think was the best performer from that spring sports season.

Below is a look at the 23 athletes who were selected as Players of the Year in their respective sports from the spring season in Miami-Dade County.

Take our poll below to cast your vote. The poll will be open until Monday at 10 p.m. You may vote as often as you like until then.

Here are the candidates:

▪ Adrian Santana, Doral Academy, baseball: Santana, a shortstop and University of Miami commit, had a .433 batting average with four home runs, eight triples, seven doubles, 26 RBI and a team-best 41 runs scored while leading the Firebirds to their first state title.

▪ Federico Zapata, Columbus, baseball: Zapata, a Barry University signee, finished with a 0.76 ERA over 73 2/3 innings, striking out 66 batters and allowing just seven walks. He threw seven complete games.

▪ Sal Stewart, Westminster Christian, baseball: Stewart, a Vanderbilt commit and draft prospect, hit .514 with nine home runs, 13 doubles, 23 RBI and 46 runs scored. He drew 30 walks while striking out just nine times.

▪ Jason Torres, Miami Springs, baseball: Torres, a University of Miami signee, posted a .481 batting average while matching Stewart’s nine home runs and also chipping in five doubles, two triples, 29 RBI and 36 runs scored.

▪ Jordan Vargas, Miami Springs, baseball: Vargas threw 78 of the team’s 174 innings and pitched to a 1.71 ERA with 79 strikeouts against just 16 walks to lead the Golden Hawks to the Class 4A regional final.

▪ Alyssa Zabala, Doral Academy, softball: Zabala went 22-5 with a 0.59 ERA, six no-hitters, two perfect games and 299 strikeouts in 165 2/3 innings as Doral made it to the Class 6A title game.

▪ Sophia Wylie, Palmetto, softball: Wylie hit .526 with 18 RBI, 12 doubles, three triples and 37 runs scored to help the Panthers reach the Class 7A regional finals.

▪ Edan Playa, Somerset Silver Palms, softball: Playa posted an 0.82 ERA while striking out 112 batters against just 12 walks in 119 2/3 innings to lead the Stallions to the Class 3A regional finals for the first time.

▪ Isabella Artiles, Westminster Christian, softball: Artiles had a 2.50 ERA with 118 strikeouts over 95 1/3 innings in the circle while also hitting .310 with five doubles, one home run, 11 RBI and 17 runs scored as a hitter before suffering a season-ending injury.

▪ Darren McQueen, Columbus, boys’ track and field: McQueen won championships in the 100-meter dash and 1,600 relay to help the Explorers finish second in Class 4A last month. He also added a bronze medal in the 200 dash and finished fourth in the 300 hurdles.

▪ Alyssa Jones, Southridge, girls’ track and field: Jones, Stanford signee, became the first girls’ athlete since Robin Reynolds to win four individual events in a state meet, bringing her total to eight overall for her career.

▪ Carlos Ramirez, TERRA, boys’ tennis: Ramirez won an overall singles state championship in Class 3A - the first in school history for the Wolves.

▪ Valeria Ray, Doral Academy, girls’ tennis: Ray, a Vanderbilt commit, won her second overall singles title, giving her three individual titles and seven overall counting team titles during her career.

▪ Carlos Veccio, Belen Jesuit, boys’ water polo: Veccio scored 90 goals while leading the Wolverines to an undefeated season and their first state championship since 2016.

▪ Sabrina Shipley, Ransom Everglades, girls’ water polo: Shipley scored 84 goals while leading Ransom to the state semifinals.

▪ Denzel Madrigal, Miami High, boys’ volleyball: Madrigal recorded 363 kills and 227 digs while blocking 47 shots and serving up 46 aces to lead the Stingarees to the state quarterfinals again and their first GMAC championship.

▪ Emily and Zoey Matias, Westminster Christian, beach volleyball: The Matias sisters went undefeated (15-0) as the Warriors’ No. 1 pair to lead the Warriors to the state quarterfinals in beach volleyball’s inaugural season as an FHSAA-sanctioned sport.

▪ Ryan Noyes, Gulliver, boys’ lacrosse: Noyes, a senior, scored 48 goals and had 35 assists to pace Gulliver as it won 6 of 8 games it played against Miami-Dade opponents and led the Raiders back to the state tournament.

▪ Emma Weinberg, Palmetto, girls’ lacrosse: Weinberg finished with 28 goals, 14 assists, 79 ground balls, 44 caused turnovers and 23 draw controls to lead the Panthers to a district championship.

▪ Lonesha Howell, Edison, flag football: Howell went 363 of 438 passing for 2,882 yards, 48 touchdowns and just six interceptions this season, and also had 49 carries for 463 yards and 14 more touchdowns, plus a 25-yard touchdown catch. On defense, she had 39 flag pulls, five sacks and nine interceptions as a safety to lead the Red Raiders to the state semifinals for the fourth time in five seasons.

▪ Arman Kashem, Southridge, boys’ badminton: Kashem secured his first ever GMAC boys’ singles championship.

▪ Katarina Slazas, Palmetto, girls’ badminton: Slazas won her first ever GMAC girls’ singles championship and led the Panthers to the team title.

This story was originally published June 8, 2022 at 2:30 PM.