We continue our Spring of 2026 series honoring outstanding performances by recognizing a National Player of the Week and others who are selected as a Runner-Up Player of the Week.

Each Tuesday through June we’ll recognize and highlight top accomplishments nationwide. If you’d like to have a player considered, scroll down to see how to send in a nomination.

Games are for Monday, April 6, 2026, through Sunday, April 12, 2026…

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This was the hardest week of the season so far to pick a National Player of the Week as there were some huge performances stat-wise that were jaw dropping…

Line Drive Softball’s National High School Player of the Week (April 14, 2026)

*** Addison Davis is quiet, but carries a big stick… literally

The sophomore catcher/utility player for Pearl River Central (Carriere, Miss.) High, played in three games last week but her stat-line looks like she played in 10.

Check out these amazing numbers:

• 9-for-10 in 12 plate appearances for a .900 batting average
• An on-base percentage of .917
• A slugging percentage 2.800
• An OPS of 3.717
• Two walks versus no strikeouts
• SIX home runs
• 16 RBIs

And that’s just on offense… behind the plate she threw out eight baserunners, picked another two off and had a caught stealing percentage of close to 29 percent.

Back to those half dozen home runs… here’s an interesting fact that her family noticed and shared with us: in the first game of the week she had one home run, in the second contest she had two dingers and in the third game she had three long home runs.

Notice a trend there?

Too bad Pear River Central didn’t play four or five games so her she could have hit four home runs in Game 4 and five in Game 4.

The game with the three homers set a school record and she also set a school record as she now has 14 home runs.

Right now, Addison—who is also a 2026 USA HPP National Selection Event invitee—leads the state of Mississippi in home runs.

Here’s Addison’s X.com post showing the home runs:

For the season, Addison has played 24 games and has a strong .544 batting average with an on-base percentage of .604 and, along with the 14 homers, she has hit 12 doubles and two triples.

Perhaps most impressively, she has 55 RBIs which averages out to 2.3 runs batted in per game.

Head Coach Tony LaBella was wowed just like everyone who tracked Addison’s player in the three games:

“This is my 13th year at PRC,” began, and we’ve had some impressive individual performances over the years, but this was another level.”

“There was no doubt about any of the home runs—you knew they were gone as soon as they left the bat. It wasn’t totally surprising, though; Addison puts on some tremendous displays during batting practice.”

“And Addie is so humble… she just works hard, always puts the team first, and keeps getting better in all aspects of her game.”

Perhaps no one was more surprised at the prolific display of hitting than the athlete’s family.

“We were all in amazement last week!” her mother Kristen told Line Drive Media

“I am still shocked to be honest; I never dreamed her sophomore season would go like this but she has worked so hard and deserves it so much!”

“Addison has a determination to be better than yesterday, and she puts in additional work multiple days a week after her school practices end. In her lessons, she works on multiple aspects of the game like her approach and mentally resetting after a play that didn’t go as planned.”

There had to be some reason for Addison’s torrid offensive run, right?

Watch this touching video she has created which, in a couple of minutes, traces her softball journey from youth to where she is now:

That video right there gives a big hint to why she does the extra practices and puts in the work to be better than yesterday—Addison really loves softball and she’s not going to let any setback—on field or off—slow her down.

Her favorite quote is this one:

“Success is not final and failure is not fatal… it is the courage to continue that counts.”

If she’s this good now as a Class of 2028 grad, imagine how much more dominating she’ll be if she continues to improve consistently over the next several years.

How did she evaluate her week with a .900 batting, six home runs and 16 RBIs?

“I was just in the zone,” Addison says simply. “It didn’t look like a beachball and I had to work for most of my home runs because I fouled a bunch of pitches off first.”

And then she finishes with two reasons why she’s gotten so good so young… one of them obvious and the other, well, not so much.  Young players pay attention…

“Working hard and pushing myself to be the very best has helped me get to where I am today,” Addison concludes.

“And I drink A LOT of orange juice.”

*****

Here are other outstanding national performances from across the continent last week…

Runner-Up Line Drive Softball National Players of the Week

*** Remember at the top we said we’d do something we just normally do?

The purpose of this weekly column is to honor one player as National Player of the Week, but we’re going to go outside the lines a bit and name National Pitcher of the Week.

Why?

Because the theme of the week, remember, is near-perfection and that is what Madi Doty, the tremendous senior pitcher/outfielder did this week for Grandview (Texas) High did in two games last week.

The Texas signee, who was ranked No. 1 in the 2026 HOT 100 published last fall—the last time that class will be released—pitched 14 innings in the two games and in the first contest she was perfect.

On April 10, Madi gave up no runs, hits or walks to pitch a perfect game with 15 strikeouts and averaged 2.14 strikeouts per inning.

The next day, she did give up two hits and three walks (the horror!), but once again gave up no runs and, once again, struck out 15 batters.

So, let’s do the math: two games totaling 14 innings and Madi gave up just two hits and three walks with a 0.00 ERA, a 0.36 WHIP and the 30 strikeouts.

Yes, that’s one heck of a week and why Madi Doty gets our nod for the Line Drive Media Pitcher of the Week… just don’t expect it to be awarded every week, but when a pitcher is this… well… near perfect, we’re going to make an exception.

*** Another rule bend we’re going to make this week…

We missed getting the info on time for Brooklyn Sergent, a 2028 RHP/OF for Moore Haven (Fla.) High who deserved to be included, but she will be this week.

In the first week of April, she went 6-for-7 at the plate (a .857 batting average) recording a home run, three doubles, and two singles for a 1.714 slugging percentage.

She also made a major impact in the circle, pitching 8.1 innings while allowing just one earned run on four hits with one walk and four strikeouts.

In the middle of the three games played, Brooklyn made a clutch, inning-ending catch at the warning track in center field, saving three runs.

Then, she entered the game in relief in the third inning with her team trailing by two and shut down Immokalee High the rest of the way, allowing just one hit over five scoreless innings. At the plate, she contributed a home run in the fifth and a single in the seventh, helping fuel a comeback victory.

In the third game, she started in the circle but an injury forced her to move to first base, but still did damage offensively going 2-for-2 with a double, a single, and an RBI to help secure the win.

With 70 percent of the season done for Moore Haven High, Brooklyn has a smoking .676 batting average with four home runs, four triples, seven doubles and 18 RBIs. In the circle, she has thrown 38 innings, allowing just five earned runs on 16 hits, while recording 53 strikeouts.

*** We just posted the latest blog of 2027 grad Rose Wendel, the talented 2027 corner infield, outfielder and, for her Hempfield (Landisville, Pa.) High, a pitcher.

The blog is titled Starting Travel Softball Young Really Matters & All-American Junior Infielder Rose Wendel Shares 17 Reasons Why! (April 10, 2026) and is impressively well-written by the junior who is committed to Harvard University.

Ranked No. 40 in the Line Drive Media 2027 HOT 100, Rose is also impressive on the field as shown by her stats in three games against tough Pennsylvania 6A schools.

Rose batted .692 with a .714 on-base percentage and an OPS of 2.022 as she had a home run, five doubles and three singles in her nine hits. She also had an intentional walk and didn’t strike out, but that’s not all: she also pitched three entire games and went 3-0 with 19 strikeouts even though she’s not a true pitcher.

For the young season, Rose is batting .621 in her first seven games  and in 32 plate appearances hasn’t struck out once.

*** Kennedy Griffin is a sophomore first baseman, outfielder, catcher and left-handed—a true utility player—who attends Riverside (Wathena, Kan.) High and is a two-way standout who had huge numbers at the plate and in the circle.

Offensively, she batted .727 and had an .800 on-base percentage with five home runs and 18 RBIs. That’s a season for many players, but she also pitched five innings with seven strikeouts and a .000 ERA

In 10 games so far this season, Kennedy is hitting .696 with a .816 on-base percentage and has seven home runs—one a grand slam—with 29 RBIs and a 2.64 OPS.

In the circle, she’s tossed 10 innings with 16 strikeouts and a 0.00 ERA while limiting opposing hitters to just a .067 batting average against.

Her standout performances have helped her Riverside High Cyclones team jump out to a 10-0 start to the season,

A true multi-sport standout, she has already earned 1st Team All-League honors in both volleyball and basketball, along with All-State recognition. This spring, she’s balancing dual responsibilities, competing in track and field while continuing her dominance on the diamond. Griffin has taken gold in the shot put and added medals in the javelin and as part of a relay team, showcasing her versatility and athleticism.

Equally impressive is her work in the classroom. Griffin maintains a 4.0 GPA, proving that her discipline and drive extend far beyond athletics.

In club play, she competes for the Top Gun National 16U team coached by Joe Sciara.

*** Aubrie Newton, the 2027 second baseman for Ballard (Louisville, Ky.) continues to have a strong season with this impressive note: over half of her plate appearances the last two seasons have been for extra bases. 

Last week, the uncommitted junior continued to impress as she helped Ballard go 5-0 in the Fort Walton Beach Bash with wins over the 4th, 13th and 24th ranked teams in Kentucky.

Aubrie went 8-for-13 for a .615 batting average and a .667 OBP as she hit a triple, two doubles, scored eight runs, drove in two herself and stole a pair of bases.

This spring, she’s hitting .484 with a .514 on-base percentage and has scored 17 runs, stolen five bases and smacked two home runs, two triples and driven in 17 runs in for the Bruins who are 11-2 to start this season

*** Freshman Ivy Jones, a shortstop, utility player for the Glenelg (Md.) High Gladiators, went 9-for-12 for a .750 batting average, an .800 on-base percentage with three home runs, two triples, nine runs scored, nine RBIs, three walks and a stolen base.

The Class of 2029 standout in No. 1 in her county in most offense categories including on-base percentage (.784), hits (19), RBIs (16), home runs (3), triples (3) and slugging percentage (1.346).

Ivy has been invited to and attended several P4 camps in softball and the dual sport athlete was the only freshman on the varsity volleyball team and started for the state champions.

In summer ball, she competes for the Texas Bombers Gold 14U – Malpass team.

*** Kyla Bain is an uncommitted 2027 lefty pitcher from Fruitvale, Texas and in two games last week she pitched shutouts with 21 strikeouts, a 0.00 ERA and a .090 batting average against her in 10 innings in the circle.

She also got it done with the stick as Kyla batted .625 with an in-the-park home run, out of the park three run homer and a triple for a 1.625 slugging percentage.

The Texas junior also hit a big career milestone: she surpassed the 700 strikeout mark thanks to 246 K’s already this season.

In 2026, Kyla has 246 strikeouts in 141 innings with a 0.20 batting average against for the year. Offensively, she’s compiled a .637 batting average with 26 RBIs

In the summer, Kyla plays for Texas Glory Gold 18U – Robbins which just was chosen for the National bracket in the Colorado Sparkler. She was also chosen and will also be playing in the Colorado Sparkler 18U showcase game as well.

*** Alexia Vazquez, a junior centerfielder for Cypress Woods (Cypress,Texas) High was perfect in two games at the plate as she went 8-for-8 including two home runs and a double. She drove in nine runs, scored five herself and also swiped three bases.

The Troy University commit is batting .565 this year as a leadoff hitter with 52 hits, 48 RBIs, 54 runs scored, 12 home runs, 28 steals and 19 walks—the latter stat showing how opposing pitchers pitcher carefully to her.

On the Alliance Fastpitch Leaderboard last Fall, she was No. 1 in home runs for the 18U division with 15 and No. 2 in RBIs and No. 3 in runs scored with 32.

*** In was a big week for a trio of Texas committed juniors and here’s what these three standouts did on the field:

— Abby Atkinson, a pitcher/outfielder for Boyd High and a Stanford commit pitched 5-inning no-hitter on April 10 in which she struck out 14 batters—a 2.80 strikeout-per-inning mark.

She also played in two games and went 4-for-6 (.667) at the plate with a pair of doubles and a walk to give her a .714 on-base percentage.

— Jordan Young, an outfielder and Louisiana-Monroe commit who plays at Waxahachie High, went 6-for-7 as a leadoff slapper and had a triple and a walk steals to produce an .875 batting average with a 2.043 OPS.

She also used her speed to steal three bases.

— Hope Gaudio, a shortstop at Legacy High in Mansfield, Texas, had three home runs in two games as she batted .571 with four hits in seven at bats.

The LSU power hitter also had a pair of walks, scored eight runs and had a .667 on-base percentage along a strong 1.857 slugging percentage and a 2.524 OPS.

*** Taylor Johns, a senior shortstop who has signed with Georgia, had a crazy good week for her Palo Verde High team located in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The Gatorade State Player of the Year in 2025 batted .714 with an .800 on-base percentage, a 3.229 OPS and a 2.429 slugging percentage thanks to three homes in two games along with a double and triple.

On the season, Taylor is batting .686 with a .771 OPB, a 2.657 OPS, a 1.886 slugging percentage and has 12 home runs with 26 RBIs in just 11 games—more than one homer per game so far.

She is also strong academically with a 4.4 GPA and is loved by her teammates for doing their hair and inspiring the team to wear glitter headbands for the season (kid you not!).

*** In this week’s MaxPreps/NFCA Spring Player of the Week honors, Natalyn Horton from Greenville, Illinois was recognized as the East Region honoree as she struck out 44 batters in 17 no-hit innings.

In the first of two games, she had 17 K’s and a no-hitter in a close 2-1 win and then struck out 24 in a 10-inning win two days later.

*** Alexis Nisyrios, a junior right-handed pitcher and corner infielder at Kingswood/Oxford Prep School in West Hartford, Conn., batted .545 with two home runs and four RBIs to lead her team to three wins.

She also pitched a total of 19 innings last week while only allowing one earned run. In the first game, she threw a no hitter only allowing one hit.

In her 2nd game, she threw another no hitter and in her third game only one earned run while striking out 15 batters over 7 innings.

The Oklahoma State commit is hitting .688 on the young season with four home runs and four doubles with 10 RBIs. In the circle, Alexis has pitched 26 innings with 55 strikeouts, an ERA of 1.07 and a BAA of just .060.

In the third game last week, she surpassed the 500 strikeout mark and that’s just a the beginning of her junior season.

An interesting note off the field: Alexis enjoys volunteering her time when she isn’t found on the ball field.

She spent 10 days in Paraguay working with students in Tobati. During spring break. This was her second trip to Paraguay. This mission trip allowed her to spend time with the students while assisting the community. S

She is planning to return again during her senior year. Alexis can also be found working with her town’s Little League offering support to the younger generation of future softball players.

*** Alexa (“Lexi”) Iwema, a senior shortstop/centerfielder for Lake Central (Ind.) High and Indiana University commit, led her undefeated team to wins in six games last week including three on Saturday (April 11).

In those games, Lexi went 8-for-10 but was jaw-dropping is that five of her eight hits were home runs!

She also had a pair of doubles and drove in 14 while scoring eight runs. Her other stats were silly good including a 3.333 OPS and a 2.50 slugging percentage.

For the week, she had 24 plate appearances in the half dozen games and hit .684 with a .750 OBP, a 2.54 OPS and a 1.79 slugging percentage. She totaled six dingers with 20 RBIs and had five walks. In the infield she was flawless with a 1.000 fielding percentage.

On the season, Lexi has played in seven games and is hitting a robust .636 with a .714 on-base percentage, a 2.31 OPS and a slugging percentage of 1.60.

Of her 14 hits, six are home runs and three doubles. She has 20 RBIs and hasn’t made an error.

A three-sport athlete, she also plays volleyball and basketball. Her parents were both athletes and her dad was part of the Milwaukee Brewers organization.

*** Autumn Andreoli, a sophomore left-handed pitcher and first baseman at Central Dauphin (Harrisburg, Pa.) High, went 2-0 with a .070 ERA and 15 K’s in 10 innings pitched.

She also batted .556 in nine at-bats with four home runs among her five hits for a 2.53 OPS and a 1.89 slugging percentage. She also drove in 12 runs

For the season, the Class of 2028 standout is 4-0 in the team’s first six games with a 1.61 ERA and 28 K’s in 21.2 innings pitched.

Offensively, Autumn is batting .538 with a .684 OPB through the first half dozen games with a 2.145 OPS and a 1.461 slugging percentage. She’s also driven in 17 runs.

Last year, she helped her team win the Pennsylvania 6A State championship has been selected twice as a USSSA All-American. 

When not playing, she volunteers with the Special Olympics and also helps coach a local 10U travel softball team. 

*** Ellie Goddard, a junior middle infield and Penn commit, helped her Carmel (Ind.) High team at the Castle Invite, an early HS season invitation event held each year with many of the top teams in Indiana. 

Carmel was on spring break most of the week, but came back to play four games between Friday and Saturday (split to go 2-2).  Ellie got out on fly balls her first two at-bats for the four-game stretch and then couldn’t be stopped as she was on base in her next 13 plate appearances. 

She had 9 hits 11 at-bats for an .818 batting average and an .867 OBP, a 2.05 OPS and a 1.18 slugging percentage. She had a triple and two doubles and was also perfect in the field.

For the 2026 season, Ellie is batting .500 in nine games with a .559 on-base percentage and has five doubles and a triple with 14 RBIs to start the season.

*** Norah Jacques, a junior lefty pitcher and first baseman at Langley High in McLean, Va., pitched two complete games last week against teams in her district, winning both.

The first victory was a 5-inning no-hitter in which she recorded every out with a strikeout (15 Ks). She fell just short of a perfect game by walking one batter. 

The second game was a 7-inning three hitter against Langley’s primary district rival, a perennial contender for the Virginia Class 6 state title (and which won it most recently in 2023).

For the two games, Norah pitched 12 innings with 32 K’s, just one walk and three hits given up along with just one earned run as the opposing hitters batted a weak 0.77 against her.

Offensively, she went 4-for-4 with two home runs and was walked the five times, including three intentional walks in the game against Langley’s district rival.

This year in the circle, Norah has given up just 10 hits and one earned run in 37.2 innings over seven games. She has already passed the 100 strikeout milestone having only faced 136 batters.

She is striking out 74 percent of the batters she faces, has a 20-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio, and has induced swing-and-misses on 34 percent of her total pitches thrown.

Her record is 5-1 but in the pair of losses she pitched a combined 12.2 innings, did not let up an earned run, had 32 strikeouts, did not walk a batter, and gaveup just three hits.

*** Emma Davies, a sophomore pitcher and utility player at Usruline (Youngstown, Ohio) High, pitched 13.2 innings with 22 strikeouts.

Offensively, she also shined by hitting .636 with a .667 on-base percentage.

Emma pitched a complete game shutout with 10 K’s and only gave up one hit. She averaged 2 K’s per inning and hit a milestone of 200 career strikeouts during this game.

For the season, she has 55 K’s in 37.2 innings with a 1.67 ERA and a .181 BAA.

She’s also hitting .536 with a .606 on-base percentage with seven doubles and two triples.

*** Austyn Kinch, a sophomore catcher and infielder at Mineral (Wisc.) High, batted .611 with three home runs and two doubles in five games. She also drove in eight runs.

In 30 innings caught, she made no errors.

*** Ellie Thomas, a junior infielder/utility player at Bishop Hartley in Columbus, Ohio, hit .500 for the week and for the season is batting .407 with three doubles and triples.

She’s also stolen four bases.

***  Keelei Brown, a sophomore righty pitcher and first baseman at Linton (Ind.) Stockton High, played seven games and hit .440 with two home runs and 13 RBIs.

In the circle she went 4-1 with 40 K’s in 28 innings pitched to start the season off for her team in the Hoosier State.

— Brentt Eads/Line Drive Media

*****

• Apr. 7:    Karmen Vazquez—Hanford (Calif.) West
• Mar. 31: Morgan Maxwell—West Forsyth (N.C.)
• Mar. 24: Siena Greenlinger—Chaminade College Preparatory (West Hills, Calif.)
• Mar. 17: Presley Kilgore— Rains (Emory, Texas)
• Mar. 10: Emma Pynes—Cornerstone Charter Academy (Belle Isle, Fla.)
• Mar. 3:   Avery Howerton—Whitesboro (Texas) High 
• Feb. 24: Krimson Calhoun—Thompson (Alabaster, Ala.) High
• Feb. 17: Lolo Gamble—Dripping Springs (Texas) High

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Nomination Process

Each week during the spring and summer high school seasons, Line Drive Softball is honoring a National High School Player of the Week.

The posts are published every Tuesday and the cutoff for submitting the nominations is each Monday at 5 pm EST/2 pm PST.

We’re looking for standouts who excelled in the circle, at the plate or in the field so be sure to nominate your favorite performance(s) by submitting the following:

• Player Name
• Grad Year (example: Class of 2026 or Senior)
• Position(s)
• High School Team Name (with city/state)
• Stats for the Week (be as detailed as possible!)
• Up-to-date Season Stats (where possible)
• Recruiting Information (if applicable)
• Any interesting Background Info on the player
• Photos: action and/or head shots (as available)
• If possible, Contact Info (player, parent, coach… if we’d like more info or quotes)

Email info and photos (1-4 as available) by the cutoff of Monday at 5 pm EST/2 pm PST to: Brentt.Eads@LineDriveMedia.com