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.

This is our second to last spotlight on top performances from across the nation in our National High School Player of the Week series; if you’d like to have a player considered, scroll down to see how to send in a nomination for next week—the final edition of this year.

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Coming Next Month: the Line Drive High School All-American Teams

Next up: nominations will be taken for the Line Drive High School All-American Teams!

The official start will be next week when we’ll begin taking All-American nominations and announce the dates when they’ll be released in July.

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Results & stats below are for games played Monday, June 1, 2026, through Sunday, June 7, 2026…

Line Drive Softball’s National High School PLAYER of the Week (June 9, 2026)

*** Talk about getting hot at the perfect time.

Abbi Call, a 2026 pitcher/first baseman for Valley View (Archbald, Pa.) High, has pitched 52 consecutive shutout innings over the last couple of weeks including 21 scoreless innings last week in three wins that saw her strike out 33 with a 0.00 ERA and a .111 batting average against.

In the trio of wins—shutouts by scores of 1-0, 5-0 and 2-0—Abbi only gave up seven hits overall all and walked just two.

The Clemson signee also helped her own cause by hitting .333 with two home runs.

*** Click HERE to read a Q&A we did with Abbi in Sept. of 2024 about her verbal to Clemson

Most importantly, Abbi has led her Lady Cougars deep into the Pennsylvania AAAA playoffs including a big 8-0 win yesterday (Monday, June 8) over Pope John Paul II in which she pitched seven innings and gave up just two hits and one walk while striking out 10.

Valley View High is looking to capture a second straight state title and looks good to do so with Abbi’s strong season on the mound and at the plate.

The pitcher, ranked in the Top 30 of the 2026 HOT 100 released last fall, is a hard-thrower (mid-60’s) who also mixes in a curve, drop, screwball, and change to make her very tough to hit.

For the season, she is 17-2 with a 0.90 ERA and in 107.2 innings has 172 strikeouts against 41 walks.

With the bat, she’s hitting a sizzling .629 with a .711 on-base percentage, a 1.226 slugging percentage and a 1.937 OPS to go with 10 home runs and 36 RBIs.

The season comes to a close on Friday at 1:30 pm EST against Blackhawk High on the Penn State campus.

So what’s worked so well over the last few weeks pitching-wise? we asked Abbi.

“I think a big part of my success has come from trusting all of my pitches and being able to mix them effectively rather than relying on just one,” she responded.

“I’ve focused on staying confident, attacking hitters, and trusting my defense behind me.”

“Mentally, I’ve been staying relaxed and taking things one pitch at a time. Learning to trust myself in big situations has been hard for me but I’m finally starting to have faith in my skills.”

She explains that one particular technique she’s implemented has also really paid off.

“Trying to slow down the game has been my main focus and not getting overwhelmed or stressed out, ” Abbi continues. “Just controlling what I can control, which has helped me stay focused and composed in big moments.”

The comfort level has also been key in her hitting, she says.

“Offensively, I’ve also been feeling comfortable at the plate. I’ve been seeing the ball well, staying disciplined, and trying to put together quality at-bats to help my team’s momentum.”

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Runner-Up Line Drive Softball National Players of the Week

*** Rosemary (Rosy) Salazar, a 2026 pitcher/utility player with Grace High in Simi Valley, Calif., finished her season strong in the 2026 CIF SoCal Softball playoffs as she batted .714 last week with two home runs and three doubles.

She also pitched 10.2 innings with no earned runs while striking out 12 in California’s CIF Southern Section regionals quarterfinal and semi-final games.

The Lancers finished the season 18-12 and for her senior campaign the Menlo College commit batted .462 with eight home runs and 40 RBIs while pitching in 122 innings with 176 strikeouts with an ERA of 2.85.

*** Another senior pitcher who has led her team to the state finals is Jayleigh Lindley, the Univ. of Akron commit who has been nearly flawless all season.

Playing for North Vigo High in Terre Haute, Ind., she is 20-0 this year and has helped her team to a 30-1 record.

Last week in three games she batted .545 with five RBIs and two walks while going 3-0 in the circle with 20.2 inning pitched, five earned runs, 27 strikeouts, seven walks

On source close to the program says:

“Without Jay leading the way offensively and in the circle, we wouldn’t have made it this far!”

In the 31 games, Jayleigh has batted .561 with a .597 OBP, nine home runs, 16 doubles and 50 RBIs.

In her pitching role, the senior has pitched 120.2 innings with a 1.28 ERA with 156 strikeouts and a .162 batting average against.

*** Sophia Nicastro, a sophomore (2028) pitcher at Calhoun (Merrick, N.Y.) High, helped lead her team to its first-ever Long Island “AA” softball championship as she pitched three complete games and was dominating in each of them.

In 21 innings, Sophia had 29 strikeouts including 14 in the Long Island championship game.

She has got it done with the bat as she had a .818 on-base percentage thanks to two home runs, two doubles, a triple and a pair of singles with three RBIs and two runs scored.

Sophia was also perfect in the field with a 1.000 fielding percentage.

It was the first time in school history that the Lady Colts had won a county game, then another first in winning the Long Island championship game and then the first time for Calhoun High in its program history to making it to states.

*** Ali Gill, a 2026 second baseman and team captain for King Philip Regional (Wrentham, Mass.) High, was on fire in three playoff wins last week as she went 8-11 (.727 batting average) with three home runs, eight RBIs, eight runs scored, three steals and, importantly, no errors on defense.

In 25 games played this season, the Colgate commit is hitting .494 with a .569 on-base percentage, a 1.787 OPS, a 1.218 slugging percentage thanks to 17 home runs, 46 RBIs, 41 runs scored and 10 steals.

This summer, she’ll be playing for Rhode Island Thunder – Lotti after coming off ulnar nerve surgery in September that forced her to miss last summer and fall action.

Ali is a tremendous student-athlete who finished her high school career with a 4.3 GPA. 

*** Milee Valencia, a 2026 second baseman who plays at La Habra (Calif.) High came up big in the California CIF state semi-final and final games to help her team advance that far for the first time in school history.

In the semi-final game held on June 4^th, the Redlands commit went 2-for-4 including driving in two runs to walk it off in the 7^th inning of a thrilling 8-7 win over St. Paul

Then, in the state championships final on June 6, she went 2-for-3 with an RBI although her Lady Highlanders fell 3-1 to Mater Dei in CIF-SS Div. 1 title game.

Still, a nice way to cap off a good prep career as she batted .571 the last week and had

*** Finally, how do you make it on this list of impressive accomplishments when you get just one hit last week?

That happened when your one hit is a game-winning two-run home for the No. 1 team in the nation, South Warren High of Bowling Green, Ky.!

As we detailed on Saturday, trailing by one in the bottom of the 8^th inning, Layla Ogden crush a two-run home run over the left-field wall to send her Spartans team to Lexington for the Kentucky state semifinals. 

You gotta love this angle of it as you see the entire drama of Layla hitting the pitch, circling the bases and then getting mobbed at home plate!

The senior first baseman/pitcher has helped lead undefeated South Warren to a 43-0 record while batting .500 (63-for-126) with 40 runs, 65 RBIs, 13 doubles, ne triple, 13 home runs, and 21 walks in 42 games.

In the circle, she is 18-0 with a 0.78 ERA, allowing just 29 hits, nine runs, eight earned runs, and 18 walks while striking out 109 batters in 71.2 innings.

Layla currently ranks No. 1 in Kentucky in fewest runs allowed.

— Brentt Eads/Line Drive Media

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• June 2: Tinley Goodson—Poquoson (Va.) High
• 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