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 week 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 20, 2026, through Sunday, April 26, 2026…

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It was an amazingly dominating week for pitchers with more than one having multiple no-hitters, but we give the nod to an outfielder who is, quite frankly, having a season and career for the ages while coming up huge for her team this week in a key win over a Top 25-ranked national powerhouse…

Line Drive Softball’s National High School Player of the Week (April 22, 2026)

*** You know you’re having a pretty darn good week when you hit 2-for-3 with a home run and single and your batting average drops to .798!

That was the case for senior shortstop McLaine Hudson of South Warren (Bowling Green, Ky.) High, the No. 1 ranked team in the Line Drive SUPER 70 High School Team Rankings who had a tremendous week including a huge performance against the then-No. 22 ranked team in the nation (more on that in a second).

The Spartans are 29-0 and one big reason is that McLaine—the leadoff hitter—has recorded a hit in every one of those 29 games this season and it hasn’t been against week competition, either: 25 of her team’s wins have been against teams with winning records.

Last week, the Florida State signee went 11-for-17 (.647) with three home runs, three doubles, a triple and scored 14 runs, drove in 13 runs, had four walks and stole 10 bases.

What is perhaps most impressive about McLaine’s game, however, is that she elevates it when the stakes are highest.

Last Friday, in the aforementioned game against the No. 22-ranked team in the nation, Green Hill (Mt. Juliet, Tenn.) High—which was 37-1 on the season before the big showdown of two Top 25-ranked teams—McLaine had a big home runs and batted .667 in what proved to be a tight one-run 5-4 victory.

The 4.0 GPA-carrying student-athlete also was flawless in the field on 13 chances.

That big week was just part of what is proving to be an All-American campaign for the tremendous athlete.

Amazingly, McLaine is No. 1 in the state of Kentucky in not just one category, but multiple ones including:

• batting average (.758),
• home runs (20),
• hits (69),
• runs scored (76),
• slugging percentage (1.681).

She’s also second in the state in RBIs (57) training her teammate Parker Willoughby by just two, 3^rd in the Bluegrass State in doubles with 18 and is 10^th in steals with 30, out of 32 attempts for a 94% success rate.

In her illustrious career for the Lady Spartans, McLaine is already the Kentucky state record holder for hits (439 and growing), home runs (83 to date) and runs scored (396).

She also holds the state mark with 93 hits in a single season.

Head Coach Kelly Reynolds knows something about game-changing softball players, herself being a former Miss Kentucky Softball, and raves about what she’s seen in the four years coaching her star outfielder:

“McLaine is one of the toughest softball players I’ve ever had the privilege of coaching.”

“She’s very dedicated to her workouts, always wants to be better and is very humble with her abilities while being always ready for the challenge.”

The coach touches on how her senior standout can help her team win in a variety of ways.

“McLaine is very capable of hitting it out of the park and then laying down a bunt the next time at bat,” Coach Reynolds adds.

“She’s always willing to do whatever it takes to help her team.”

Her list of career accomplishments at all levels is jaw-dropping as she’s been a four-time Kentucky 1^st Team All-State honoree, and the last two years has played for the USA Junior National Team and in 2025 was a World Cup Gold Medalist.

Last year, McLaine was also selected to the All-World Team.

Being that softball is her future, the prep senior had to make a touch choice this year: she had to stop playing another sport in which she excelled, but McLaine acknowledges the decision has helped her take her softball game to another level.

“This off-season played a huge role in the success I’ve had so far this season,” she explains.

“After coming off a long travel ball summer while dealing with several nagging injuries, I made the difficult decision to not play basketball my senior year.”

“It wasn’t easy, but I knew I needed to prioritize getting my body back to 100 percent. That choice allowed me to fully commit to the weight room and focus on rebuilding my strength.”

The tremendous athlete, who played point guard on the hoops court and had over 1,600 points—and would have surely scored more than 2,000 if she had played this past winter—adds that she also worked on another aspect of the game.

“At the same time,” McLaine continues, “I put in a lot of work in mentally. I worked a lot on accepting that failure is part of the game and to keep pushing forward when things don’t go my way.”

“That mindset has helped me play with more confidence and freedom, allowing me to stay loose and perform at a higher level.”

South Warren has seven games left in the regular season before hitting the Kentucky playoffs with three of those being district games that determine postseason seeding.

The remaining four are non-district match-ups.

Then comes post-season play including:

• District Tournament: May 18–22 (2 games)
• Regional Tournament: May 25–29 (3 games)
• State Tournament: June 4–6 (4 games)
• State Final Four: June 12–13

From district tournament play forward, the format becomes single-elimination, with each round moving teams one step closer to the 2026 state championship.

The point being that there are a many more games for McLaine to push her records so far out that it will be hard for them to be matched in the future.

And that we should enjoy watching while we can the wrap-up to the prep career of one of the greatest high school softball players ever.

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

Runner-Up Line Drive Softball National Players of the Week

*** Jenna Mannon, a junior right-handed pitcher and shortstop at West Jefferson (Ohio) High, continues to impress as one of the Buckeye State’s top softball players.

It was another week of stellar performances for the Univ. of Missouri commit who went 3-0 in the circle with two of them being no-hitters.

Jenna gave up just one hit across the three games and had a 0.00 ERA, facing only six hitters beyond the minimum across that stretch. 

She also struck out 23 hitters or 51 percent of the batters she faced and, on the offensive side, she batted .857 with five of her six hits being extra base hits (on the season, 77% of her hits are for extras). 

As one coach well put it:

“Jenna can do it all and is poised to make a big impact this summer and when she gets to Mizzou, but for now she’s gonna make her mark on the Ohio high school softball scene.”

For the season, the 2027 grad is 12-2 with the two no-no’s and multiple one-hitters. She has faced 288 batters, struck out 147—more than half—and has only walked 15 opposing batters.

Her ERA is 0.82 and her batting average against is just .111.

With the bat, she is hitting a stellar .605 with a .694 on-base percentage, a 1.512 slugging percentage and, perhaps most impressively of all, 77 percentage of her hits have been for extra base hits as she has eight home runs, three triples and nine doubles.

Jenna comes from a strong athletic family as both parents played sports in college and her older sister, Brooke, is a pitcher/utility player at the University of Indiana and a younger brother is nationally ranked in the shots and discus.

*** Another week, another dominating run by Madi Doty of Grandview (Texas) High, ranked No. 1 in the 2026 HOT 100 published last October (2025).

In two games, she tossed back-to-back no-hitters and averaged 2.36 strikeouts per inning as she totaled 17 in one six-inning win and another nine K’s in a five-inning victory.

This, following last week when she tossed a perfect game in which she struck out 15.

On an impressive personal note, the Texas Longhorn signee passed the 1,000 career strikeout mark.

She also helped her own cause by going 3-for-7 at the plate with a home run and four RBIs.

*** Ila Hughes is a 2028 pitcher also in Ohio—she competes for Lincolnview High in Middle Point, Ohio—and in four games this week pitched 20.1 innings and gave up just five hits and no earned runs along with 40 K’s versus only four walks.

In one key win, a 2-1 victory over a top Indiana Class 3A team, Ila pitched seven innings with only two hits given up with 12 strikeouts and no walks.

She also shined offensively, hitting .500 on 7-for-14 with two doubles.

For the season, the Midwest pitcher has tossed 80.1 innings with a 0.61 ERA and 148 strikeouts against only 13 walks.

Ila has also gotten it done on the club side, helping her Tennessee Mojo 2027 – Pardue team win last year’s PGF 16U Platinum Nationals.

*** Anna Luscher, the junior pitcher/shortstop at Everett (Wash.) High, helped her Seagulls team last week by pitching nine scoreless innings (0.00 ERA) and giving up just one hit while striking out 19 opposing hitters.

She also batted .600 with a .667 on-base percentage and a 1.251 OPS.

Another fun fact about the Class of 2027 standout is she is the varsity quarterback on her Everett High flag football team, which competes in the winter, and she was awarded the Offensive Player of the Year and has been named Team Captain for next year.

*** We’ve mentioned the name Layla Odgen quite a few times this spring in our National Player of the Week series and for good reason: she’s a key reason her South Warren High team (yes, the same one that POW McLaine Hudson is one) is 29-0.

The starting pitcher and first baseman continues to show why she’s considered as one of Kentucky’s most complete two-way players in 2026.

Layla delivered a dominant six-game week, finishing 3–0 in the circle with three no-hitters in run-rule shortened wins.

Over seven innings pitched, she recorded 13 strikeouts and two walks while at the plate she went 7-for-13 (.538) with five RBIs, collecting four singles and three doubles to fuel consistent offensive production throughout the week.

A Kentucky Preseason Player of the Year selection by MaxPreps, Layla is 13–0 in the circle with a 0.70 ERA across 50.1 innings, recording 79 strikeouts against 14 walks while allowing just 17 hits.

Opponents have managed only five earned runs all season—approximately one earned run every 10 innings—along with 45 scoreless innings and nine shutouts.

At the plate, she is hitting .511 with 45 hits in 29 games, including 9 home runs, 10 doubles, and 49 RBI, producing in the middle of the order while maintaining pitching responsibilities.

For her career, Ogden is 70–3 with a 1.39 ERA over 397.1 innings and 475 strikeouts, with seven no-hitters and two perfect games. She’s also hit .530 with 24 home runs and 75 RBI in 2025.

One other important note: last Saturday, Layla pitched a run-shortened perfect game; so too did her junior pitching teammate Courtney Norwood, who is a Univ. of Kentucky commit and is having a tremendous season as well (more on her in the upcoming POW series.

*** Raelyn Mancias, a junior pitcher at Pharr (Texas) San Juan Alamo High, came up big in a pair of bi-district playoff wins for her team.

She pitched complete game victories in 9-5 and 6-1 wins and in the 14 total innings was a workhorse throwing nearly 200 pitches with a 2.00 ERA in the first win and a 1.00 ERA in the second.

For the season, Raelyn is 16-6 with a 1.35 ERA and has helped her team by recording 191 strikeouts in 144.2 innings.

Opponents are hitting just .188 against her and, offensively, the 2027 grad is hitting .358 with 27 RBIs.

The Texan also shines in the classroom as, currently, she is No. 1 in her junior class with a perfect 4.0 GPA. 

*** Ava Papaleo, a top senior centerfielder who plays for Ursuline (New Rochelle, N.Y.) High led by Coach John Pirone, is a Univ. of Virginia signee and continues to show why she’s a HOT 100 player in the Class of 2026.

Over the past week, Ava Papaleo has performed at a level that firmly places her among the most impactful hitters in the country.

Against a mix of ranked and competitive New York Section 1 opponents—including No. 8-ranked White Plains (Class AAA) and No. 5 Eastchester (Class AA), both ranked according to the 2026 NYSSCOGS New York State Softball Rankings, Ava went 10-for-15 (.667 average) with a .762 on-base percentage, a 1.667 slugging percentage and a 2.429 OPS.

The future Cavalier hit four home runs in the five games played including a grand slam to go with three doubles and strove in 14 RBIs while scoring 13 runs herself.

Ava totaled 25 bases and was walked six times—three intentionally-as opposing pitchers don’t want to challenge her too often.

She recorded extra-base hits in four of her team’s five games and homered once every 3.75 at-bats during the stretch, highlighting her elite power and consistency.

Through nine games this season, she’s hitting .667 with a .771 on-base percentage, a 1.667 slugging mark and a 2.438 OPS.

Of her 16 hits, five have been homers and seven doubles. She’s 9-for-10 in steals and also has an 82.9 percent QAB rate.

Beyond her impact at the plate, Ava has been flawless defensively in center field this season, not committing an error.

*** Kensley Davis, a senior power-hitting infielder for Alexander Central High in Taylorsville, N.C., broke the school record for home runs this week as she was unstoppable at the plate.

The Univ. of North Carolina signee went 7-for-9 for a .778 batting average and 10-for-12 in getting on base with a .833 on-base percentage.

She smacked four home runs to give her 13 on the year to break the school mark of 12 for a season and also had a pair of doubles and totaled 10 RBIs.

Her 13 dingers is also second in the state this season.

Kensley had a big game Friday night against nationally ranked South Caldwell High as she got on base four times and hit her team’s go-ahead home run.

For the 2026 campaign, the senior is batting .632 with a .684 on-base percentage and adds a 1.408 slugging percentage and a 2.092 OPS.

Kevin Hinde, the head coach of club team Team North Carolina – Hinde, says of the top player:

“Kensley has a top-level work ethic and it shows when she steps on the field. She is an elite hitter who has incredible power to all parts of the field.” 

*** Hunter “Lulu” Adrian continues to have an All-American season for Melissa (Texas) High as the Arkansas commit went 7-for-8 (.875 average) with three home runs in a pair of games to open the Texas 5A playoffs.

Four of Lulu’s hits were for extra bases, and she totaled nine RBIs with five in a game on April 23 and four more in a game the next day.

For the week, she also had a 2.125 slugging percentage and a 3.00 OPS.

This season, Lulu has driven in 62 runs with 17 homers in 31 games and has a strong .626 on-base percentage.

*** Jorgia Roeth, a sophomore outfielder and lefty triple threat at Miami East (Casstown, Ohio) High, has been on base in all 19 of her team’s games this season and shined once again last week as she batted .600 with a .625 on-base percentage.

The Class of 2028 standout had nine hits, of which four were doubles and one a triple.

She also drove in eight RBIs and stole a pair of bases.

*** Ava Milewski, a sophomore infielder and utility player who also catches for Archmere Academy in Claymont, Del., played in three games last week and in a game on April 25^th, batted for the cycle.

For the week, she hit .750 with a 2.352 OPS and had a home run, two triples and a double.

Perhaps most impressive of all, Ava is behind the plate for her prep team despite never having played that position previously and still picked off two baserunners.

*** Kate Flanagan, one of the top players in the Class of 2030, had dominating two-way performance as she helped her team go 8-0 last week against some of the top teams in Alabama including Mountainbrook, Chelsea, Central, Southside, Cullman, Curry (twice) and Athens high schools

The pitcher for Vestavia Hills High was nearly untouchable in the circle and explosive at the plate.

In the circle, in her four appearances which totaled 16.1 innings pitched, she gave up just one earned run while striking out 16 versus only three walks.

Her ERA was 0.43, her WHIP was 0.614 and opposing batters hit just .129 against her. She totaled three wins and a save and pitched two complete games.

At the plate, Kate went 13-for-22 for a .619 batting average with a .714 OBP including a home run and three doubles.

She delivered in every phase of the game — as a starter, as a closer, and as a lead off power threat.

*** Janiya “Niya” Cockerham, a 2029 grad for Amory (Miss.) High, is a standout pitcher/first baseman with a strong bat who hits for a high average as well as huge power.

This week was one for the record books for Niya and her Amory High softball team playing in the Mississippi state playoffs as she went 3-0 and in 14 innings pitched had a 0.49 ERA with a 0.98 WHIP.

In the trio of wins, Niya had 22 strikeouts and she also got it done at the plate, hitting .833 with five hits in six at-bats—two of them home runs– to go along with three intentional walks.

— Brentt Eads/Line Drive Media

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• Apr. 22: Finlee Williams—Melissa (Texas)
• Apr. 14:  Addison Davis—Pearl River Central (Carriere, Miss.)
• 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