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, May 4, 2026, through Sunday, May 10, 2026…

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More and more states are in playoff mode and that means more and more teams–and players–are seeing their seasons come to an end.

Additionally, there are fewer games played during the playoffs in many states so we’re seeing the player stat numbers decreasing somewhat… but that doesn’t mean there haven’t been ANY big weeks.

Au contraire, mon frere (French for “On the contrary, my brother”)

Here are several that earn our total respect… including two talented players who were already National Player of the Week earlier this Spring!

Line Drive Softball’s National High School Player of the Week (May 12, 2026)

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*** Anleigh Wood, the 2028 catcher/shortstop player from Dothan, Ala. and a standout power hitter at Wicksburg High, continues to put fear in pitchers who are terrified to give up the long ball.

In five games last week, Anleigh went 9-for-13 for a .692 batting average and thanks to five walks she produced a .778 on-base percentage.

Anleigh blasted three home runs, a triple and three doubles to finish the week with a 1.462 slugging percentage and 10 runs scored and seven RBIs.

In 46 games this Spring, the sophomore has compiled silly good stats: a .593 batting average, a .658 on-base percentage, a 1.390 slugging percentage and a 2.048 OPS.

In her 118 plate appearances, Anleigh has compiled 70 hits with 15 doubles, one triple and… wait for it…. 26 home runs.

That mark puts her second in the nation in home runs and has established the underclassman as one of the most feared hitters in Alabama.

We asked Anleigh what’s been behind her amazing production in hitting for both a high average and huge power numbers this year?”

“When I’m in the box, I try not to think too much,” the sophomore standout explains. “I trust the work I’ve put in and I focus on swinging at pitches I know I can hit well and be productive with.”

“As for power, I hit a ton during the offseason and I’ve also taken the weight room very seriously this year. My softball coach, Coach (Josh) Cox, is also my weight room teacher and he does a great job.”

But she’s not just an all hit/no defense one-dimensional player—Anleigh also has a .964 fielding percentage for the season.

With her prolific offensive numbers, it wouldn’t be a surprise if those following her would overlook her defensive skills, but Anleigh doesn’t feel that’s the case.

“If you watch me play, I hope you can tell I work hard on defense as well,” she says. “I’ve been working with Coach Shane Cahalan some this year on catching, which is my primary position, and he has helped me a lot.”

“I also took on a new role playing shortstop this season and, while I’m not the most comfortable there yet, I try to have fun and do my best. I have awesome teammates out there with me so that helps.”

Coach Cox appreciates that Anleigh is well-rounded in her life, on and off the field.

“She is one awesome young lady!” he begins. “Anleigh plays shortstop and catcher for us and she is elite at the plate and believes she can hit anyone she faces.”

The Wicksburg head coach also believes the young athlete has another contributing factor that helps her play at such a high level.

“Anleigh’s faith is strong,” he continues, “and she puts her faith in Jesus which I believe allows her to accomplish all that she does, including her hitting 43 home runs in the past two years.”

On Tuesday, she helped her reigning 3A state champion Wicksburg High team clinch the AHSAA 3A Area 2 championship by going 4-for-4 with three doubles, a home run, four RBIs and four runs in the championship game. 

On the third double of the game, Anleigh reached the 200 hits milestone for her high school varsity softball career (and, did we mention, she’s only a sophomore?!?).

There’s a bit of softball left to play this season, but of all her amazing accomplishments to date, what has been the sophomore’s favorite?

“I would say the highlight of my year was going 3-for-3 with three home runs in one game,” Anleigh answers.

“That was fun!”

The Wicksburg Panthers will play Wednesday in the South Regional being held in Gulf Shores to continue their run for a three-peat state championship.

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

Runner-Up Line Drive Softball National Players of the Week

*** Molly Davi, the junior pitcher committed to the University of Utah, was just on the edge of being this week’s National High Schol Player of the Week but although she didn’t get it, there is one strong consolation…

She’ll be named a Line Drive 1^st Team All-American when the team is announced later in the summer.

That’s because Molly capped her 2026 season by pitching three shutouts in the final week of the season for her and her Maryknoll (Honolulu, Hawaii) High teammates.

Molly shutout Punahou High—No. 2 in the ILH; Waiakea High—the top Big Island team, and Balwin High—the top Maui team.

Those trio of shutouts gave her nine for the season and Molly also was the 2026 Hawaii state leader in wins with 15 as well as strikeouts and ERA.

That means she’s finished for the second year straight as the strikeout, win and ERA leader for the entire state.

In her final game of the season, Molly had 13 K’s in five innings with no walks and this year averaged over two strikeouts per inning and no runs and one walk per game.

Also an excellent student with a 4.0 GPA, Molly also has helped many girls in Hawaii get started pitching and playing, donating her time and resources to growing softball in the state.

*** Haley Schmitt has burst onto the scene as one of the top freshman players in the country and she continues to show that in the Lone Star State as the Katy (Texas) High product pitched in two games last week with 14 strikeouts in 9.2 innings pitched

She also finished with a 0.72 ERA, a 0.414 WHIP and a .091 batting average against.

In the playoffs, Haley has now totaled 16.2 innings and has only given up one earned run while striking out 31 opponents to just two walks.

Her stat-line in the post-season shows Haley ups her game when the stakes are higher as she has a 0.42 ERA, a .300 WHIP, a .057 BAA with 73 percent strikes and 72 percent first pitch strikes.

Perhaps most impressive: opposing hitters have just a .083 batting average with runners in scoring position.

The right-handed pitcher helped Katy sweep defending 6A Texas State Champs Kingwood High in two games of the Texas 6A D2 Regional Semi-Finals.

Haley pitched a complete extra inning game to get the win in Game 1. She retired the first 15 batters she faced and was perfect through five innings striking out 12 over 8 innings, walking none with only one earned run.

In that game, she also went 1 for 3 with a line drive double to left field and scored the first run in the first inning after winning a nine pitch at-bat as lead off to draw the walk. 

Haley started at short stop in Game #2 and pitched 1.2 innings in relief to close the game after the Katy pitcher was taken out of the game due to injury. She struck out two with no hits to secure the win and the series clinching shutout.

For the season, she has a 13-1 record with 165 K’s in 85 innings pitched with a 0.58 ERA, a .529 WHIP, a .122 BAA and 70 percent strikes.

Haley was selected as the District 19-6A Newcomer of the Year and Academic All-District with a 4.1 GPA in all pre-AP/ Gifted and Talented classes. 

Katy will take on Clear Creek High this week in the Texas 6A D2 Regional Finals.

*** Caylee “KK” Barbe, a junior right-handed pitcher and utility player for Trinity Catholic (Ocala, Fla.) High, was superb both in the circle and at the plate.

The Syracuse commit led her team to three post-season wins as she batted .800 with two home runs and was untouchable in the 18 innings she pitched.

KK had 33 strikeouts versus just three walks and had a perfect 0.00 ERA with a .389 WHIP.

For the season, she’s batting .429 with a .547 on-base percentage and has smacked eight home runs as part of her 19 RBIs.

Pitching-wise, she’s tossed 121 innings and has 14 wins with 211 K’s and 24 walks. Additionally, she has a 0.69 ERA and a 0.791 WHIP.

Trinity Catholic is the District Champs and will play in a Regional semi-final Tuesday evening versus The First Academy.

*** Anastyn Street, the 2030 grad who is now a second-year varsity starter for Georgetown (S.C.) High, continues to establish herself as a high-level competitor both in school and travel softball.

This week, she was a terror at the plate as the shortstop batted 7-for-8 (.875 batting average) and had a .889 on-base percentage, a 1.625 slugging percentage and an outstanding 2.514 OPS.

Of her seven hits, three were doubles and one was a three-run home run during the first week of South Carolina 3A playoffs.

For the 2026 campaign, Anastyn is hitting .386 with a .487 on-base percentage and has an OPS of 1.052. Of her 33 hits, eight have been doubles, two were home runs and one was a triple.

Impressively, she has gone 8-for-10 in the steals department and also leads her team with 33 RBIs.

*** Kat Johnson, the sophomore shortstop at Gordonsville (Tenn.) High, has an impressive story in how she’s overcome a lot to be one of the top 2028’s in the country.

She moved to Tennessee two years ago and had to get used to a whole new world and then was asked to play shortstop last year for the first time.

On top of that, she had to work back from a torn hip labrum that required surgery, but even with all those challenges, Kat has shined this year overall and last week, when she hit .625 with a 1.000 slugging percentage as she went 4-for-5 at the plate with a home run.

Additionally, she had six assists and four put-outs in the dirt.

For the season, Kat is hitting a robust .557 with 44 hits including five home runs and 41 RBIs. Defensively, the infielder has recorded 54 assists and 31 putouts.

*** Pity the pitchers in Southern California who lose the draw and have to take the circle against Whittier Christian High which has not just one fearful hitter… but two.

Those would be juniors Mia Camacho, an infielder who is committed to Rutgers, and Ali Plimpton, a centerfielder who’ll head to Ohio later next year to compete at Kent State.

The duo helped their team finish league undefeated and closed out a nine-game winning streak.

For the week, Mia went 4-for-5 with three home runs, six RBIs and five runs scored. This year, her totals to date include a .513 batting average, a 1.18 slugging percentage, 13 home runs, 49 RBIs and 36 runs scored.

And you can’t pitch around Mia and forget about Ali, who went 5-for-8 last week with two home runs of her own to total four RBIs and three runs scored.

But as good as they are on the field, both athletes are also impressively impactful in their communities.

Mia, who also plays volleyball, is an active volunteer for a variety of local programs, and Ali founded the Impact Circle program at her school, which is aimed at giving underprivileged, low-income children within the community a birthday celebration.

For example, bringing cake and gifts to young folks to celebrate when their parents and family don’t have the means to provide these items. 

*** If the name Krimson Calhoun from Thompson (Alabaster, Ala.) High sounds familiar it’s because she was named earlier this year as our National High School Player of the Week on Feb. 24, 2026

The sophomore middle infielder hasn’t slowed down since then and now has her team primed for a deep playoff run following dominant run to the 7A Area 5 Championship.

For that Area 5 Tournament held May 4-5, Krimson played in three games and batted .875 with a .900 on-base percentage as she went 7-for-8 with two doubles, a triple and an inside-the-park home run.

Those numbers helped her make the 7A Area 6 All-Tournament Team, but there’s more softball to be played and the sophomore looks to improve on her already stellar season totals of a .668 batting average, a .688 OBP, 73 runs scored, 49 steals and a 100 percent success rate on those thefts.

Interestingly, Krimson transferred to Thompson High School this year to compete at the highest level in Alabama softball and has continued to thrive against elite competition.

The Warriors are the defending 7A State Champion and continue to establish themselves as one of the top programs nationally.

Krimson has already had some impressive accomplishments including being listed on the PGF Sophomore All-American watchlist for 2026, helped her TN Mojo – Pardue travel team win the 2025 PGF 16U Platinum National Championship and being ranked No. 14 on the Line Drive 2028 HOT 100 rankings list.

*** On the topic of former National Player of the Week from earlier this year, we could have easily named McLaine Hudson, the tremendous leadoff hitter and Florida State signee who plays for the No. 1 high school team in the country—South Warren (Bowling Green, Ky.)—as this week’s National Player of the Week.

McLaine, who received the honor just two weeks ago, had a huge week once again for the Lady Spartans—ranked No. 1 in this week’s SUPER 70 National High School Team Rankings—as she went 7-for-10 with 3 home runs (one in each game played), a triple, seven runs scored, two walks, seven RBIs and three steals.

As great as those numbers were, they could have been even bigger—in the first game of the week, South Warren played an overmatched local team and the final score was 22-0, called after three innings.

The usual starters—including McLaine—didn’t even play.

In the other three games, one on Friday and two on Saturday, the scores were 11-3, 15-0 and 16-1 so, understandably, there was a lot of subbing going on. And two of those games (not even counting the 22-0 victory) were only three innings, further limiting opportunities for more at-bats

*** The limited action for the South Warren High players affected the pitchers two with the Lady Spartans only going past three innings in one of their four games.

The best one-two pitching combo in high school this year, senior Layla Ogden and junior Courtney Norwood, certainly had fewer innings Odgen continues to impress as a two-way player.

She pitched five total innings and had 10 strikeouts while allowing only one hit and one walk all week. In one of the three-inning games, she pitched a no-hitter… for what it’s worth to face nine batters.

Layla also went 3-for-3 with three runs scored and two RBIs.

*** Another player who hasn’t cooled down all year is Kensley Davis, the senior first baseman outfielder who is signed to play in-state at North Carolina and was ranked No. 14 in the Line Drive 2026 HOT 100 released last October.

The dangerous hitter at Alexander Central (Taylorsville, N.C.) High went 3-for-3 in the team’s only game of the week due to a bye in the second round of the North Carolina 6A playoffs.

So just one game for the week but, boy, did Kensley make the most of it by going 3-for-3 with all three hits being home runs!

The 2026 grad totaled seven RBIs and also had a walk in that game… maybe there should have been, oh… four walks for her in that game?

On the year, Kensley is hitting .628 with a .684 on-base percentage and has 16 home runs, two triples and 16 doubles to help account for a 1.420 slugging percentage.

Scouting report to future Alexander Central High opponents: pitch around very carefully or just walk Kensley Davis. It should make your lives a lot easier.

*** Emma Davies, the talented sophomore pitcher/utility player at Ursuline (Youngstown, Ohio) High, had a rain-impacted shortened week—three games were cancelled—but in the limited action she did have, the 2028 grad made the most of it.

In the circle she totaled seven innings in a complete game victory with 10 strikeouts, four hits, three walks and no earned runs for a 0.00 ERA and a weak .154 batting average against.

She also had a strong day at the plate going 2-for-3 with two runs, two RBIS and a double.

This season she’s hitting .433 with a .514 on-base percentage, a slugging percentage of .667 and has 10 doubles and two triples from the leadoff spot while scoring 22 runs and driving in 12 runs herself.

*** Bailee Packer, a tremendous freshman at Urbana (Ohio) High, continues to make a huge impact in the Buckeye State as she hit her third grand slam of the season, tying her for second in the Ohio High School Athletic Association for all time season grand slams.

On the season, Bailee has 67 RBIs and in four games played last week, she had similarly impressive numbers as she hit .588 in 17 at-bats with a 1.967 OPS, a 1.412 slugging percentage and of her 10 hits tour were home runs and two others were doubles.

Her big week helped Urbana secure a second-place finish in the Central Buckeye Conference to the team that was the 2025 Division IV State Champions.

*** Mia Melendez, the 2028 first baseman/pitcher for Riverside Brookfield (Riverside, Ill.) High, continues to have a great follow-up to her outstanding freshman campaign last season.

In 2025, Mia was named the only Freshman for All-Conference in the Upstate Eight Conference for softball and had a team-leading 11 home runs and 60 RBIs.

Also, last summer she was chosen to participate in the All-American All-Star Game at the Colorado Sparkler after hitting a home run in a showcase game.

Hard feats to surpass but Mia is finding ways to improve on last year.

Last week, for example, she played in four games and batted .462 with a .533 on-base percentage, a 1.077 percentage and a 1.610 OPS.

In one game, she went 3-for-3 and was a single away from hitting for the cycle as she homered, tripled and doubled.

Mia had two home runs, two doubles and five RBIs to give her a .478 batting average this year with a .593 on-base percentage, a 1.817 OPS and a 1.224 slugging percentage.

Significantly, the sophomore has 13 home runs this year, already surpassing last year’s total.

When she isn’t playing high school softball, Mi can be found playing with her travel team, the Sparks Premium 18U team and is the only sophomore on the roster.

— Brentt Eads/Line Drive Media

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• 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