It may be April Fool’s Day (April 1), but the performances of the athletes below were no joke! And they work too hard and their performances too impressive to made light of… so here we go for this week:

Each Tuesday for the next several months Line Drive Softball is honoring top high school performances nationwide with a National Player of the Week and others who are named Runner-Up Players of the Week.

If you’d like to have a player considered, scroll down to see how to send in a nomination.

Games are for Sunday, Mar. 23, 2025, through Saturday, March 29, 2025…

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Line Drive Softball’s National High School Player of the Week (April 1, 2025)

*** Mia Hemenway, a freshman catcher and third baseman at Chiles High School in Tallahassee, Fla. helped her team to three wins last week and she was almost perfect at the plate.

Mia went 8-for-9 (0.889 batting average) and got on base 11 of her 12 plate appearances (.917 OBP).

Of her hits, four were over-the-fence home runs and three were to the opposite field. She also has an opposite field triple.

Additionally, Mia had three doubles including a walk-off one to beat Florida High, and drove in nine runs.

For the season, the 2028 grad is hitting .609 with a .690 on-base percentage with 13 home runs, eight doubles, a jaw-dropping 42 RBIs, a 1.674 slugging percentage along with 12 walks and a hit-by-pitch.

Heading into this week, Mia leads the state of Florida in home runs (by five) and in RBIs (by 10).

Line Drive Softball asked her today what was clicking so well:

“My approach changed from trying to have perfect pitch selection and the best bat path to having confidence in my swing and looking to attack my pitch, every pitch.”

“I find that when I execute this mindset, I am more focused on the process rather than the product, which is how the game should be played.”

“Finally I give the credit for my RBI’s to our amazing lead off hitter @MatthewsAdelyn and 2 hole hitter @AKBarber2028 for hitting so well this season and always being on base for me!”

Here’s a clip of one of Mia’s four home runs:

Mia Hemenway (2028) with another home run! She’s currently leading Florida with 13 home runs and 42 RBI’s!#highlights #fastpitch #girlswithgame #blastcam #homerun #leader @MiaHemenway pic.twitter.com/QKA4V89N4H

— SB Sports Network (@sbsportsnetwork) March 30, 2025

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Runner-Up Line Drive Softball National Players of the Week

*** Lainey Hall, a junior shortstop and pitcher at West Ashley High School in Charleston, S.C. had quite the week in the circle and at the plate.

Lainey had 13 strikeouts in one game and batted .571 to help her own cause.

The Alabama-Birmingham commit had a standout freshman season at Jupiter (Fla.) High in Palm Beach County where she was nominated for the County Player of the Year. She and her family then relocated to Charleston, S.C., and is continuing to put up big numbers this year as well.

Lainey was select as her team’s Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week for her two-way accomplishments.

Click HERE to see a Facebook post the school put out honoring her.

*** Caidence Phillips, a junior right-handed pitcher and corner infielder at Carterville (Ill.) High, kicked off her first week of the season in grand style.

This week she pitched 24 innings and went 4-0 with 49 strikeouts, an ERA of 0.87 and a WHIP of .l500.

With the stick, she played in seven games and hit .524 with a .565 on-base percentage. She had 21 at-bats and had 11 hits including a grand slam which was noteworthy as it came against a Class 5A school (Carterville is a 2A school).

Nevertheless, the Illinois standout went 4-for-4 in the game with the aforementioned grand slam and she also pitched a no-hitter with nine K’s in the same game.

Not a bad start to the season for the 2026 grad.

Caidence was 1st team All State last year and helped her team win the 2A State Championship. When not playing high school ball, she can likely be found playing for Greg Dickel’s talented Iowa Premier 16U team.

*** Freshman pitcher and utility player Sophie Sivon of Perry (Ohio) High got to enjoy her Spring Break by playing five games in Cocoa Beach, Fla.

Carrying the most innings for her team as a frosh, she was a two-way standout, tossing 15 innings with 16 K’s and giving up just four earned runs while hitting .400 with a .471 on-base percentage and had five runs knocked in.

*** Jules Galella, a sophomore infielder and outfielder for Holy Cross High School in Dunmore, Pa., is the younger sister of Mia Galella, who is headed to Boston College to play at the next level.

Her father, Tom, told Line Drive this week:

“Jules is a little late bloomer who wasn’t sure she wanted to play in college until recently,” he explained. “Now she is full steam ahead beginning her recruiting process.”

An excellent hit-to-contact batter, she rarely strikeouts out and is known for her softball IQ, especially at the plate where the 2027 grad batted .778 last week, going 7-for-9, and producing an .,800 on-base percentage, a 2.022 OPS and a slugging percentage of 1.222.

Equally impressive: Jules had no strikeouts while driving in seven runs.

*** Taryn Ashenfelter, a Class of 2027 grad from Kennard Dale High in Fawn Grove, Pa., had a huge week in the circle and at the plate.

The sophomore pitched 10 innings with 39 strikeouts, gave up just two walks and finished the week with a 0.35 ERA and a 1.084 OPS.

She helped her own cause by hitting .455 with a .538 on-base percentage and a 1,.084 UPS.

*** Kyleigh Higgs, a freshman right-handed pitcher and infielder with Oakland High School in Murfreesboro, Tenn., continues to have a strong 2025 Spring as she batted .388 in three games last week with a .541 on-base percentage and .647 slugging percentage.

Three of Kyaleigh’s seven hits were home runs and she didn’t strikeout all week while also pitching well with just three hits given up in 6.3 innings pitched to go with seven K’s and an opponent batting of just .150.

For then 2025 Spring Season to date, Kyleigh is batting .500 with a .606 on-base percentage and a total of 13 hits including two home runs and 12 RBIs.

So far this year, she’s tossed 24.1 innings and has 24 K’s and a batting average against of just .153.

Kyleigh is a 5-foot-10 right-hander with a fastball in the low 60’s, a curve at 57 mph, a rise at 58 mph and a change-up at 48-49 mph.

Already in her career, she’s been a USSAA All American Direct Invite, S30 Invite, Beta Club, HOSA, and 2024 Tennessee State Champion (at Oakland Middle).

The freshman has twice been nominated as the Daily News Journal Player of the Week and won both times.

*** Caylee “KK” Barbe is one of the top 2027’s in the nation and attends Trinity Catholic High in Ocala, Florida.

In four starts, she’s produced four wins and in 19 innings pitched has acquired 35 strikeouts, a 1.02 ERA, a .139 batting average against and a .966 WHIP.

On the offensive side, KK is batting .500 with four home runs, 11 RBIs, a 1.429 slugging percentage, no strikeouts

The sophomore from the Sunshine State also led her team at the Doc4Life tournament in Central Florida to an undefeated championship.

***  Paityn Vidano, a freshman RF and utility, is playing for Poway (Calif.) High School Division 1 as the starting right fielder and is the only Freshman on the squad.

Last week she played in three games and batted 500 (5-for-10) with an OPS of 1.262 and for the season Paitlyn is now batting .406 with 13 hits, nine RBIs and seven runs scored.

Although a few years from graduation, the Class of 2026 standout wants to one day attend the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and study Forensic Anthropology and Fire Science. 

*** Torii Johannes, a freshman shortstop at Lovejoy (Lucas, Texas) High, went 3-for-4 last week with five RBIs including a grand slam.

For the season, Victoria (her reals first name) is hitting .400 with a .489 on-base percentage and has four homers with 23 RBIs to date.

Torii has a great uncle who was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals, although her father, Jason, is from Minnesota.

*** Natalie Cable, a senior lefty pitcher and outfielder at Bloomingdale High in Valrico, Fla., played in three games last week and in 11 at-bats and 12 plate appearance hit .727 with a .750 on-base percentage.

She smacked three home runs and had a double and triple to give her a 1.818 slugging percentage and an OPS of 2.568.

Natalie also pitched in two games and in nine innings tossed gave up just two hits and a pair of runs while striking out 20 and producing a 1.56 ERA.

The UCLA signee is hitting .595 for the season with 22 hits, 17 RBIs, 19 runs scored and, in the circle, has tossed 37.2 innings with an impressive 85 strikeouts or almost 2.3 K’s per inning.

*** Lila Manfredonia, a freshman lefty pitcher for Independence (Ohio) High, kicked off her season with style.

In her very first high school varsity game, she started on the mound and recorded 19 strikeouts while allowing just one hit and one unearned run.

The game went into extra innings at 1-1, before Lila hit a double to start the hitting in the 8th and helped her team to an eventual 4-1 victory as she shut down the opposing hitters in the bottom of the 8th inning.

In that extra inning thriller, Lila broke her high school game strikeout record (which was 18).

Not surprisingly, the young athlete is already receiving mail with camp information and has followers on X from Power 4 coaches. 

*** Emersyn Haney, just a 7^th grader, is playing for Jasper (Ala.) High and for the week had 15 at-bats in five games and hit .538 with a .600 on-base percentage and scored six runs and had a pair of steals.

Defensively, the centerfielder had eight putouts and an assist nailing a runner at third base.

Jasper High played in the Gulf Shores Classic and competed against high school teams such as Marysville (Ohio), Westminster Christian (Miami, Fla.), Hatton High and Athens Bible Varsity, both from north Alabama. 

In the game against Westminster Christian, Emersyn made a diving catch in center to leave multiple runners on base.

In the bottom of the 5th inning, Jasper was trailing 0-5, but Emersyn started the inning with a double that hit the top of the fence and she scored when her teammate hit a home run.

Jasper continued to get hits and tied the game 5-5. With two outs, Emersyn came up to the plate once again in the bottom of the 5th and, with an RBI single, she helped Jasper earn the lead and go on to win the game. 

In the game against Hatton High, Emersyn was 2-for-4 and scored two runs. Jasper won 3-1, with Emersyn accounting for two of the three of the runs scored. 

Against Athens Bible, Emersyn’s first at-bat was a hard ground ball to center field, bud when the outfield made an error playing the ball, Emersyn used her speed and smart base running to advance and score on that hit.

For the 2025 season, the middle schooler has a .500 batting average, a .580 on-base percentage, five doubles, two triples, 10 RBIs, 16 runs scored, seven walks and nine steals. On defense, she’s had 30 putouts and two assists.

A final note: Emersyn broke her finger making a diving catch in practice two days before the season began. Jasper High’s record while she was out was 1-6. The young athlete did everything she could to make a quick recovery, including multiple weekly sessions at a hyperbaric oxygen chamber.

Once she was released to play and joined her team again, her team turned it around and has gone 13-4 since her return.

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2025 Line Drive Softball National High School Player of the Week

• Mar. 25: Norah Jacques (McLean, Va.)
• Mar. 18: Gracyn Needle (West Palm Beach, Fla)
• Mar. 11: Anna Hinde (Charlotte, N.C.)
• Mar. 4: Hannah Jo Sullivan (Brandon, Miss.)
• Feb. 25: Molly Davi (Hilo, Hawaii)
• Feb. 18: Lulu Adrian & Finlee Williams (Melissa, Texas)

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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.

Honorees are announced every Tuesday and the cutoff for submitting the nominations is each Monday at noon EST/9 am 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 2025 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 if possible
• Recruiting information (if applicable)
• Any interesting background on the player
• Action and/or head shots
• If possible, contact info if we’d like more info or quotes

Email info and photos (1-4 as available) by the cutoff of Monday at noon EST/9 am PST to: Brentt.Eads@LineDriveMedia.com