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.

For another few weeks this month (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, May 25, 2026, through Sunday, May 31, 2026…

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Line Drive Softball’s National High School PLAYER of the Week (June 3, 2026)

*** It’s hard to do better than perfect and that was the case last week for Tinley Goodson, the outstanding sophomore middle infielder for Poquoson (Va.) High which is preparing to compete tomorrow in the Virginia Class II Region A Finals.

Last week, Tinley—who is ranked No. 7 in the Line Drive Media 2028 HOT 100 that came out last year, went 10-for-10 in a pair of games in which she had three home runs, five doubles, drove in 11 runs and scored a dozen herself.

Additionally, the super soph had a perfect 1.000 on-base percentage, a slugging percentage of 2.400 with an OPS of 3.400 and even stole two bases for good measure.

Her explosive week has helped the Lady Islanders to a 22-1 record prior to Thursday’s big playoff game.

Going back two weeks, to May 20^th, the middle infielder has played in four games (two of them playoffs) and while she wasn’t prefect the week prior, it’s doubtful Head Coach Sydney Turner will be subbing for Tinley anytime soon as she still hit at an .846 clip.

We asked Tinley what has helped her become so prodigious at the plate.

“I’ve really been working hard with my dad all year on staying behind the ball when I’m hitting,” she explained. “I’ve been putting in a lot of extra work outside of practice and before games and it’s really been paying off.”

“My school ball coaches are also great at giving us a lot of reps during the week to succeed on game day.” 

Coach Turner, one of those coaches complimented by the athlete, adds her opinion as to why Tinley has taken to her hitting to another level.

“I think her mentality at the plate shifted and she took a huge step in her approach at the plate,” she suggests.

“She’s really flourished with pairing her skill set, competitiveness, with maturity and discipline in the box.”

Another point she makes: Tinley hates to lose.

“She is one of the most competitive kids I’ve been around,” the head coach, who is in her second year at Poquoson High, continues.

“She’s about the right things and cares about winning above all else. I’m fortunate for the opportunity to coach her and the rest of these kids. We have a very special group and Tinley is a huge part in that.

For the year, the athlete has a .541 batting average overall with a .596 on-base percentage, a 1.011 slugging percentage and a stellar 1.607 OPS.

Of Tinley’s 46 hits, eight are home runs, 14 doubles and her 51 RBIs lead the state of Virginia this week.

She’s also swiped 17 bases and scored 44 runs when she does get on base.

If she’s this good as a sophomore, it’s scary to imagine how good she’ll be in the second half of her prep career, but, then again, it’s hard to improve on perfection.

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Runner-Up Line Drive Softball National Players of the Week

*** Not a bad week, either, for Julianna “Jules” Altamirano, the junior right-handed pitcher and power hitter for Live Oak High in Morgan Hill, Calif.

The two-way standout helped her team win the Central Coast Section (CCS) championship and then right after headed to play for her San Jose Sting 18U club team and win a PGF Qualifier.

In the title game win, Jules smacked two doubles and drove in three of her teammates while striking out four.

In the preceding semi-final game, the junior hit a standing double to deep left center that cleared the bases and also hit another double while striking out six.

This season, Jules hit a big personal milestone as she hit the 300 K plateau and now has 371. She also helped her own cause by hitting .375 with six doubles and a home runs.

*** Going back to the theme of perfection for a moment, a tip of the cap to Austyn Kinch, the sophomore catcher and infielder for Mineral Point (Wisc.) High.

In two games this week, Austyn went 7-for-7 with a home run and double and drove in three RBIs and also had two walks and two steals.

Equally impressive, she was perfect defensively behind the plate and didn’t give up a steal in the pair of wins.

For the season, the Midwestern underclassman is batting .543 in 28 games with a .588 on-base percentage and a 1.523 OPS.

The most impressive stat, though, has to be that she has 50 hits or about 1.8 hits per game played this, her sophomore season.

Of those hits, seven are home runs 13 are doubles while she’s driven in 36 RBIs, had nine walks and just five strikeouts.

And more perfection from the standout from the Badger State: she’s 14-for-14 in steals this season.

Austyn is an elite framing/receiving catcher and has helped her pitching staff to maintain a 1.32 ERA, limiting baserunners, and holding teams scoreless in 11 of their 28 games this season.

Mineral Point High is still in the playoffs for Wisconsin, winning their Regionals, and are in the Sectional semi-finals this week.

*** Another Super Soph who’s had a great 2026 campaign is Jordan Frye, the dynamic catcher at Lower Dauphin (Hummelstown, Pa.) High

Last week, Jordan hit a first pitch leadoff home run to start the Falcons’ semi-final playoff game and she also notched an RBI double to the fence with two outs.

She also proved clutch in a District Final game as she had a two-out RBI single and a two-out RBI double while also picking off a baserunner for the first out of the game and threw out a runner trying to steal second to end the 8^th inning of that win.

For the season, Jordan has 42 hits with 18 of them being for extra bases, she’s accounted for 28 RBIs as the team’s leadoff hitter, and has scored 34 runs showing that she’s prolific in getting on base and coming around to score.

*** More and more top players are seeing their 2026 seasons come to a close and with that we want to make a subtle pitch:

… for you accomplished players and their families and coaches to start pulling together season stats as we start gearing up for… drum roll please… our forthcoming Line Drive Media 2026 High School All-American Team!

Here’s a good example of a strong candidate who has the numbers to make the team:

— Gracyn Needle is a terrific 2027 infielder at King’s Academy in West Palm Beach, Fla., who was named All-State, All-County and the Palm Beach Player of the Year as well as the FACA Regional Player of the Year.

The Tennessee commit, who will play this summer for Tampa Mustangs – Rene, had a batting average of .667 with a .787 on-base percentage, a 1.48 slugging percentage and a 2.243 OPS as she crushed 11 home runs with 36 RBIs this season with 30 walks and just one strikeout.

(If I remember my calculus and trig days from high school, that’s a 30:1 walk-to-strikeout ratio).

Also impressive: Gracyn has a 4.43 GPA and finished 3^rd in Florida in the javelin throw!

Yeat, that’s an All-American resume right there…

*** Finally, then No. 1 team in the nation—South Warren High of Bowling Green, Ky.—didn’t have just one contributor with National High School Player of the Week credentials, the Spartans had four as the team preps for tomorrow’s start of the Kentucky State Playoffs:

The totals here are from a trio of games played, on May 25, 27 and 28:

— Parker Willoughby, the senior third baseman/catcher committed to Ohio State, went 8-for-11 (.727 batting average), two home runs, 10 RBIs and seven runs scored

— Layla Odgen, the senior pitcher, went 6-for-10 with two home runs, a pitched her team to a win with six K’s and a 0.00 ERA

— Courtney Norwood, the junior pitcher committed to Kentucky, went 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA as she pitched 12 innings with two hits given up, no runs, no walks and a jaw-dropping 25 strikeouts. One of her wins was a five-inning perfect game as she faced the minimum 15 batters.

— and, finally, McClaine Hudson… the senior shortstop and Florida State signee who herself has previously this season been a Line Drive Media National High School Player of the Week and last week went 7-for-10 with four steals, seven runs scored and a home run.

And that there are four very good reasons why South Warren High is the No. 1 team in this week’s SUPER 70 high school softball team rankings.

— Brentt Eads/Line Drive Media

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• May 27: Bella Ortiz—Hagerty (Oviedo, Fla.) High
• May 19: Hinano Bautista—Mililan (Hawaii) High
• May 12: Anleigh Wood—Wicksburg (Newton, Ala.) High
• May 5: Addison DeRoche— Cheverus (Portland, Maine) High
• Apr. 28: McLaine Hudson—South Warren (Bowling Green, Ky.) High
• 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