Each Tuesday for the Spring season, Line Drive Softball is honoring top high school performances nationwide with a National Player of the Week and others who are named Runner-Up Player 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, April 20, 2025, through Saturday, April 26, 2025…

*****

Line Drive Softball’s National High School Player of the Week (April 29, 2025)

*** Marist High softball out of Chicago, Ill. is currently 19-1 and ranked in the latest edition of the Line Drive Softball SUPER 70 High School Rankings. If you’re an opposing pitcher, you have one of three options when on game-day against Marist :

1. Go out and pitch… and watch out for low-flying projectiles hit your way,
2. Call in sick,
3. Conveniently be out of town for the week.

The team is loaded offensively and senior corner infielder Gabi Novickas is an accomplished driving force for the team.

Last week, in 18 plate appearances and 15 at-bats, she had five singles, two doubles and a jaw-dropping five home runs.

Her batting average for the week was .800 and her on-base percentage .833 helped out by three walks (and no strikeouts for those counting). Gabi also drove in 12 runs to go with a 1.933 slugging percentage.

The Georgia signee didn’t just have a hot week—she’s had a hot senior season in the Midwest. Yesterday, she went 3-for-4 with another home run, double and single with two more RBIs.

In those 20 games, Gabi is now hitting .550 with a .603 OBP and of her 33 total hits, she’s had 10 doubles and 12 home runs to give her a 1.350 slugging percentage and a 1.953 OPS. Additionally, the high school senior has 35 RBIs, 30 runs scored and 11 walks.

Gabi and the other seniors on the team are looking to back to the Illinois State finals for the fourth time and won it all two years ago.

The athlete’s father, Ray, comments:

“I’ve noticed Gabi being more patient at the plate and she’s just letting things happen instead trying to make something happen. She’s having fun out there and has learned to not put so much pressure on herself.”

The coaching staff, led by Collen Phelan, “has done an incredible job with this team,” the athlete’s father continues. “The offense has been putting up big numbers and the pitching staff has been dominant.”

Just what opposing teams want to hear.

And the future SEC player is as impressive off the field as she is on: Gabi has a 4.78 GPA and is in the National Honor Society and Spanish National Honor Society.

Officially a Dawg!❤️ So grateful to call this place home! https://t.co/4S6Cd2MyFy

— Gabi Novickas 2025 (@GNovickas2025) November 13, 2024

Line Drive Softball asked Gabi earlier today if she feel like she was in the zone over the last week.

“Definitely!” she responded. “I went into the week feeling great with my swing. I felt composed and smooth. When I stepped up to the plate, it was really time to just trust my practice and go to work in the box.”

Is her success coming from the physical side, mental or a combo in-between, we asked?

“I feel like my mindset in the box is very aggressive right now,” she said. “I am going up to the plate with a ‘do damage’ thought process. This allows me to stay focused on driving the ball to all fields while still being selective with balls that are out of the zone.”

With a dozen home runs in 20 games so far, is there any concern of overswinging… trying to hit a home every at-bat?

“I try not to think too much about hitting home runs,” she explained. “I think it can cause me to overswing sometimes. I definitely like to keep it simple with my approach: drive any ball that I can get my barrel to. I know that I don’t have to try to do too much, especially with my teammates behind me.”

Lastly, we asked the All-American candidate what she’s been most happy with in her play, especially over the last week or two.

“I am most proud of my consistency last week,” she continued. “I felt very confident in myself with my at-bats and knew that I could do it. With the season going well, I am super proud of this team. This group of girls is so special and I couldn’t have asked for a better senior season!”

The athlete’s father reflected on what a season—and career—it’s been for his accomplished daughter.

“It’s definitely been a great run at Marist,” Ray Novickas concluded. “We’ve had outstanding coaches and families and a state championship this year would be the cherry on top to a memorable career at Marist.”

“We are so proud of Gabi’s maturity and dedication. She pours her heart into not only being a stellar student, and a beast on the softball field but a great leader, friend and teammate. Gabi has a drive like no other to achieve her dreams all while having fun doing it!”

— Brentt Eads/Line Drive Softball

*****

Runner-Up Line Drive Softball National Players of the Week

*** Brynlee Alford, a sophomore pitcher/shortstop at Horseshoe Bend (Ala.) High, participated in an area tournament and pitched not one, but two perfect games, and even hit a home run.

In the pair of perfectos, Brynle faced 27 batters and had 22 strikeouts and helped her team win Area 7 for the Class 2A division.

For the week, she also batted .571 with two doubles and six RBIs and, for the 2025 spring season, Brynlee’s only allowed six earned runs while striking out 169 strikeouts and an ERA of 0.47.

Impressively, she now has totaled 420 strikeouts at the high school level and she’s not even halfway through her high school career yet.

*** Mariah Collins, a 2027 catcher/corner infielder at Rouse (Leander, Texas) High, has helped her team reach the Texas High School Playoffs in 5A Div. 1 Region IV.

The sophomore came up big in the playoffs as she went 3-for-3 in Game 1 of the Playoffs with another three hits in Game 2 including a double and two-run homerun to help the Raiders advance to Round 2 of the playoffs.

She’s the batterymate of starting pitcher Blakely Barber, a University of Kansas commit.

*** Austyn Kinch, a freshman catcher and infielder from Mineral Point (Wisc.) High, was on fire last week as she had 15 at-bats with nine hits and batted .600 and had a .684 on-base percentage.

The Class of 2028 grad also had a 2.551 OPS as she had a pair of singles, a double, two triples and four home runs.

And Austyn can lay claim to something very, very few softball players can: two of her homers were hit in the same inning!

For the season, the standout has a .400 batting average with a .586 on-base per centage.

*** Zoe Bessham, a freshman first baseman and outfielder for Gallatin High in Bozeman, Mont., batted .750 last week with a .769 on-base percentage, a 2.186 OPS and a 1.417 slugging percentage as she had nine hits including a pair of homers and doubles.

She also had six RBIs and scored five times while going perfect on defense.

Ranked in the Line Drive HOT 100 for her class, Zoe plays club ball with OC Batbusters 14U – Vidano which is ranked No. 1 in the Alliance PCFL and No. 2 nationally. Zoe was selected as the Triple Crown Tournament MVP and made the All-Tournament team last year at Don Battles On 16U.

*** Rose Wendel is a fast-rising sophomore at Hempfield (Landisville, Pa.) High and bats as the leadoff hitter for her team.

Last week in three games, the 2027 standout went 7-for-10 at the plate (.700 batting average and .727 on-base percentage) and also had a 1.527 OPS.

She normally plays the corners and outfield but also pitched two innings in one game last week striking out four of the six batters she faced and didn’t give up a hit.

For the season, Rose is hitting .558 with 24 hits in 43 plate appearances

The California native now living in Pennsylvania has excelled for two years on the varsity team and also plays tennis at a 6A high school where she was the MVP for her school and won districts in Doubles and placed at the State Playoffs— all while earning straight A’s in Honors and AP classes.

A power hitter, Rose plays travel ball for both the Keystone State Bombers 18U – Herr (Pa.) and Athletics Mercado National Showcase Team 16U – Ali (Calif.).

She serves as Class Historian, volunteers with Clare House, and is known for her

*** Hope “Lillie” Gaudio, a Class of 2027 shortstop who is high on several SEC program’s recruiting lists, is on fire for Mansfield Legacy in Texas and this week set her school’s single season home run record with 16 long balls so far.

In three playoff games at the 6A playoffs, she hit .600 with a .692 on-base percentage and a 1.992 OPS as she went 6-for-10 which included coming up big Saturday night as she led off the bottom of the seventh with a triple and scored the winning run on a walk-off sacrifice fly.

Hope has been on fire over the last couple weeks going 23-for-28 (.821 average) with eight home runs and 28 RBIs in her last eight games.

Mansfield Legacy ended the weekend with a 25-6 record and is ranked in the Top 10 softball schools in the Dallas area.

*** Kennedy Bradley, a junior who is committed to Florida and attends Melissa High in Texas, finished the regular season leading the Dallas/Ft. Worth area with 19 home runs and hit another two in the first round of the playoffs.

She needs just one more to tie the area single season record.

In her pair of games, Kennedy went 6-for-6 with a triple in addition to the home runs and had a walk and scored six runs.

For the pair of games, the standout Class of 2026 also compiled other video game-like stats including a 2.333 slugging percentage and a 3.333 OPS.

*** Jordan Frye is a freshman at Lower Dauphin High in Hummelstown, Pa. and plays catcher at the travel ball level but moved to the shortstop position to fill the spot opened with the graduation from a senior last year.

Last week, she had nine hits in 11 plate appearances (.818 batting average) with four home runs, three doubles, two singles and two walks.

Jordan had 11 RBIs and also stole four bases.

For the 2025 season, she is batting .529 with 27 hits in 51 plate appearances as a leadoff hitter. She has driven in 21 runs, scored 21 herself and has only struck out once and left just five runners on base.

Every game this year, she has had at least one hit.

In addition to her softball prowess, Jordan also competes in field hockey and is a standout in track, setting her middle school record in the shot put while also running the 55-meters and throwing the javelin.

*** Taryn Ashenfelter is a promising sophomore pitcher for Kennard-Dale High in Fawn Grove, Pa. and had an outstanding week last week as she went 3-0 with 14.2 innings pitched and struck out 32 opposing hitters while giving up no walks and just six hits.

Last Friday’s game saw her pitch a 5-inning perfect game in a 10-0 victory. The Class of 2027 pitcher struck out 14 of the 15 batters she faced.

Another big highlight last week was Taryn recording her 300^th career strikeout. She also had a home run and double in the 9-1 win. Offensively for the week, the Keystone State standout batted .444 with a .500 on-base percentage.

In the circle this season, Taryn is a perfect 15-0 with 182 K’s in 96.2 innings pitched and has only allowed nine earned runs all season. Her ERA is 0.65, her WHIP is .693 and her batting average against is .151.

In the summer club circuit, Taryn plays for the Newtown Rock National 16U – Bodick team.

*** Sophomore shortstop Skaii Rodriguez from Lake Howell in Winter Park, Fla. and the lefty hitter was strong last week as she batted .800 with a .875 on-base percentage and compiled a 1.875 OBP.

So far this season, Skaii is hitting .516 with a .648 on-base percentage and has 33 hits, 29 runs scored and 17 stolen bases.

The Class of 2027 infi9elder plays travel ball with the Tampa Mustangs and has been able to compete for the Puerto Rico national team at the 15U and 18U age divisions.

*** Lila Manfred, a freshman pitcher at Independence (Ohio) High, has had a strong spring including a spring trip to Myrtle Beach last week where she tossed 22 innings with 53 strikeouts and had a 0.95 ERA while helping her own cause by hitting .375.

The 5-foot-8 lefty pitcher is already getting interest from Power 4 schools and has been clocked in the low-to-mid 60’s and has been invited to the USA High Performance Program the last two years.

Lila also plays first base when not pitching and competes for the Ohio Bombers Gold 14U team.

*** Senior centerfielder Emily Valentine of Bristol (Conn.) Eastern went 8-for-9 in a pair of games with two doubles, a triple and a home run. She also drove in eight runs and scored seven herself.

In a big comeback win against Plainville High, Emily collected her 100^th career hit. For the season, Emily is batting .692 with an on-base percentage of .750.

The senior is committed to play collegiate softball at Stony Brook and will get ready to do so by playing with the nationally strong Rhode Island Thunder program led by Dave Lotti.

*****

2025 Line Drive Softball National High School Player of the Week

• April 22: Camryn Fisher(Ellington, Conn.)
• April 15: Madi Doty (Grandview, Texas)
• April 8: Ava Phillips (Fullerton, Calif.)
• April 1: Mia Hemenway (Tallahassee, Fla.)
• 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)

*****

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 Mondays at noon EST/9 am PST to: Brentt.Eads@LineDriveMedia.com