Each week 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 as a Runner-Up Player of the Week.

Many states are now in their playoffs and Spring 2025 seasons are wrapping up, but we’ll continue to do the National High School Player of the Week as appropriate.

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

Games are for Sunday, May 11, 2025, through Saturday, May 17, 2025…

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Line Drive Softball’s National High School Player of the Week (May 21, 2025)

*** You can’t do better than perfect.

That was the case for Jenna Mannon of West Jefferson (Ohio) High last week as the sophomore pitcher and first baseman got it done hitting-wise going 8-for-8 at the plate while not allowing an earned run in the circle.

And this wasn’t just a fluky hot week, either; Jenna was just in the last couple of days named 1^st Team All-State, All-District, All-League, the Central District Div. 6 Player of the Year and the OHC North Player of the Year.

Yea, she’s pretty good… but perfectly perfect?

“Last week were our last games of the regular season,” Jenna told Line Drive Softball this morning.

“I was aware of batting 1.000 and it all came down to the mindset my team and I had to finish the season out strong.”

Diving into her stats, here’s what Jenna did: in two games (weather knocked out another game), Jenna had eight at-bats and had three home runs, two triples and three singles.

She also drove in seven runs, scored five herself and had video game stats in the other areas: a 1.000 batting average and on-base percentage, a 2.625 slugging percentage and an OPS of 3.625.

And, oh yea, she was pretty darn good in the circle, too.

Jenna pitched two complete games and didn’t allow an earned run. She totaled 13 innings and faced 46 batters while striking out 19 and walking just two. Only four hits were given up and one unearned run.

Her other key stats: a WHIP of .538 and a batting average against of .091.

For the season, the Central Ohio standout has played in 20 games and offensively has 12 home runs to go with a sizzling .687 batting average, a .724 on-base percentage, a slugging percentage of 1.537 and an OPS of 2.261.

On the circle, the sophomore standout has tossed 101.2 innings and has given up 12 earned runs for a 0.83 ERA, a WHIP of .816, a batting average against at .156.

Not surprisingly, Jenna is on a number of top college’s lists and draws attention from nearly every Top 20 softball team when she plays travel ball. 

Her head coach, Jed Torgerson, explains:

“We have had a huge number of P4 schools express interest.  She even has some top schools flying to central Ohio to watch her play in high school.”

What makes her so good we asked?

“From a coaching perspective, she is fantastic to work with—Jenna has a lot of confidence in her abilities but she is always looking for ways she can improve & is always seeking advice about how she can be better.”

“She is one of the fiercest competitors on the field and has a very high softball IQ, but she is also super quick to smile and you can tell she truly has a love for the game.  When it’s her turn to rotate out, she demonstrates being a great team player too by cheering and rooting loudly for all her teammates.”

Jenna is following in the footsteps of older sister Brooke Mannon, who is a sophomore pitcher at the University of Arizona and was the Gatorade Player of the Year in Ohio. Her younger brother is nationally ranked in the shotput and just won the Ohio state championship.   

The younger sister isn’t just about one sport, either; Jenna also competes in basketball, soccer, track & field and now Crossfit.

As if her athletics success wasn’t enough, the Buckeye State standout also has a 4.0 GPA and is on the West Jefferson High student council

Jenna was also a finalist in the Home Run Derby at last year’s Triple Crown Sparkler event and will be participating again this summer.  She recently was selected for the USA Softball’s High Performance Program (HPP), and was selected by Fastpitch United to compete in its All-American Game.

What’s next for Jenna and her talented team?

“Today starts tournament play against a tough Cardington team,” she said.

“When we make it to District finals, we play a very skilled Danville team who is ranked #1 in our division, but I believe my team’s mindset will carry us through. After that. we have a very good path to the state championship.

“Thank you for this honor of being Player of the Week,” Jenna concluded, “but I must say that it wouldn’t have been possible without the defense behind me!”

— Brentt Eads/Line Drive Softball

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Runner-Up Line Drive Softball National Players of the Week

*** Sophie Sivon is a freshman pitcher and utility player at Perry (Ohio) High and got it done in the circle and at the plate last week.

In the circle, she pitched 14 innings with 10 K’s a 3.00 ERA and an opponent’s batting average of .226. At the plate, Sophie batted .429 with a .500 on-base percentage,

Sophie has been rock solid at the plate this year and recently had her first strikeout in 23 games!! On the season, she’s only had 3 K’s in 83 plate appearances.

*** Freshman middle infielder and outfielder Maddie “Beamer” Beam-Jones of Mentor (Ohio) High hit .571 last week with a 1.571 OPS while being error free on defense last week.

Sophie starts at second base and is the only Freshman on Mentor’s varsity team.

Impressively, she has only had one defensive error on the season! The Mentor Cardinals clinched the Greater Cleveland Conference Championship and this week is in the playoffs.

Beamer is also a 2025 USA HPP National Selection invitee for Region 2. For college coaches who may want to follow Beamer, her Twitter account is @maddiebj09

*** Erin McDaid was the Line Drive National High School Player of the Week last week (see previous winners below) and had a great follow-up week.

Erin sparked a rally for her team with a home run that cleared the eight-foot tall, 210-foot fence with ease in one game, going 2-for-2 with two walks, two RBIs and three runs scored.

She also started the game pitching going four innings with 10 strikeouts and no earned runs.

In the second game of the week, Erin helped her team win 1-0 as she pitched seven innings and gave up just four hits while striking out eight opponents. Another significant moment that game was when Erin hit the 700 strikeout mark.

In the last of three games, Erin shined during “Senior Day” and a 2-0 win as she gave up no unearned runs in seven innings while striking out nine.

Over last week’s three games, Erin posted a 3-0 record, pitched 18 innings with 27 strikeouts, 10 hits allowed, 0 walks, and 0 earned runs. Her ERA was 0.00, and at the plate she went 3-for-7 at the plate, for a .429 batting average with three walks (a .923 OBP)and 5 RBIs.

These games also marked her surpassing 700th career varsity strikeout and is now at 712. Also, Erin is on a 32-inning pitching streak without giving up an earned run. 

She ended the regular season with a 0.68 ERA and a 0.707 WHIP. 

Finally, Erin limited opposing hitters to just a .070 batting average. Against with runners in scoring position. Defensively, she had 92 chances with a fielding percentage of 1.000

*** Marilyn McCaverty, a 2027 grad who plays catcher and right field for the El Segundo (California) High Eagles came up clutch in the Round 1 of the CIF Southern Section Div. 1 matchup against Cypress.

The game went to extra innings and in the bottom of the 9^th inning down by one, with two outs and two on, Marilyn went to a full count before she hit a walk off home run to give her team the win.

In Round 2 of the CIF playoffs, she again came up big with an RBI double and two walks.

Her head coach says:

“Marilyn continues to excel every season. She drives the ball to all fields with power, has a great command of the zone, and delivers in big moments. Her tremendous work ethic is only surpassed by her character-she’s a great teammate.”

*** Alaina Allyn is a junior right-handed pitcher and third baseman for Mount Vernon (Ind.) High.

Last week she pitched 15 innings with 33 strikeouts versus just three balls.

For the season, Alaina has tossed 59 innings with 130 K’s.

*** Anna Luscher is a sophomore pitcher and utility player at Everett (Wash.) High and this week batted .461 with a .500 on-base percentage.

In the circle, she pitched 16 innings with 30 K’s, an ERA of 1.31, a BAA of .151 and a fielding percentage of 1.000.

Impressively, Anna is in the National Honor Society and has a GPA of 4.93.

*** Caylee “KK” Barbe is a sophomore right-handed pitcher for Trinity Catholic (Fla.) High and last week pitched 21 innings, had a 0.00 ERA and had 29 strikeouts, which helped her team win three Regional games to take the team to the Final 4.

KK now has 10 home runs on the season with a .506 OBP and has tossed 197 strikeouts in 119 innings with 14 wins and three saves.

*** Lila Manfredonia is a freshman pitcher and 1^st baseman at Independence (Ohio) High and last week batted .857 with 10 RBIs.

She also pitched 7 innings with 18 K’s, three walks and just one earned run.

For the season, Lila now has a .552 batting average and a .630 slugging percentage with seven home runs and 35 RBIs. Pitching-wise, she thrown 83.2 innings with just eight unearned runs allowed and an impressive 203 strikeouts and a BAA of .105

Lila broke her high school single season strikeout record this week, too.

The record was 187 and Lila is sitting at 203 strikeouts. Lila is a competitor and is just trying to make an impact with her school, community, and friends that she plays with. 

After school ball, Lila will continue with her Ohio Bombers-Reis team. They are playing in top tournaments this summer like the Top Gun Invitational in Kansas, the P5 Patriot Games in Colorado, and Lila will also be playing in IDT in Colorado. 

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2025 Line Drive Softball National High School Player of the Week

• May 13: Erin McDaid(Smithtown, N.Y.)
• May 6: Arianna Lugo (Round Rock, Texas)
• 29: Gabi Novickas(Chicago, Ill.)
• 22: Camryn Fisher(Ellington, Conn.)
• 15: Madi Doty (Grandview, Texas)
• 8: Ava Phillips (Fullerton, Calif.)
• 1: Mia Hemenway (Tallahassee, Fla.)
• 25: Norah Jacques (McLean, Va.)
• 18: Gracyn Needle (West Palm Beach, Fla.)
• 11: Anna Hinde (Charlotte, N.C.)
• 4: Hannah Jo Sullivan (Brandon, Miss.)
• 25: Molly Davi(Hilo, Hawaii)
• 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 Mondays at noon EST/9 am PST to: Brentt.Eads@LineDriveMedia.com