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 Tuesday 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, Mar. 9, 2026, through Sunday, Mar. 15, 2026…

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Line Drive Softball’s National High School Player of the Week (March 17, 2026)

*** It’s not as if Preslee Kilgore, the Texas A&M-bound 2026 catcher and utility player at Rains (Emory, Texas) High, wasn’t already well known as one of the top softball players in the senior class.

She is a three-time Texas 3A All-State softball player and also in her prep career has been All-Region in hoops and helped lead her basketball team to the Texas State semi-finals previously.

This winter (2025-26), Preslee was named the District Co-Defensive Player of the Year and hit a personal milestone as she surpassed the 1,000-career points mark.

All of which makes her week in softball last week that more impressive.

Coming straight out of basketball season, Preslee took the fastpitch fields and was perfect—literally—as she went 8-for-8 at the plate over two games with three home runs including a game-winning walk-off one.

All told, her week stat line included the trio of homers, two doubles, 10 RBIs, eight runs scored, a 2.375 slugging percentage and a 3.375 OPS.

… in her first week back from several months focusing primarily on the basketball season.

So, we asked Preslee, how did you do that?!?

“I would say making the transition was pretty easy for me,” she explained.

“Rains is such a big community and it’s always a family in every program. It also helped with softball being my natural area, so that it was just easy to quickly get back in the groove of things.”

“I think just with so much experience, that mentally at-bats have slowed down for me,” Preslee concluded.

“It’s less stress and more about executing all the work I’ve put in into play.”

Just think how good the future Aggie could be if she actually gets to practice!!!

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Runner-Up Line Drive Softball National Players of the Week

*** Another Texan who had an explosive week at the plate was Julia Harper, a 2027 outfielder who plays for Mansfield Lake Ridge High.

The North Carolina commit had four home runs in two games (with three dingers coming in a game played March 10) and overall going 5-for-6 with 10 RBIs, a 0.857 on-base percentage, a 3.167 slugging mark and a 4.024 OPS.

*** Melissa (Texas) High is once again loaded with talent and teammates Finlee Williams, a 2027 shortstop committed to Oklahoma, and Lulu Adrian, a 2027 catcher headed to Arkansas, came up huge for the perennial Lone Star power:

— Finley went 4-for-6 with two home runs off a 2027 pitcher headed to the Big 12. For the week, she had a .714 OBP with a 1.667 slugging percentage and a 2.381 OPS in two games.

— Adrian had three home runs with 10 RBIs—amazingly all coming in one game!—and in the other game had a double and walk. She finished the week with a .714 OBP, a 2.333 slugging percentage and a 3.048 OPS

*** Abigail “Abby” Ruiz, a 2028 right-handed pitcher for Nevada (Texas) High, pitched 12 innings and had 24 K’s versus just two walks and an earned run to give her a .583 ERA.

She also limited the opposing hitters to just a .098 ERA.

For the 2026 season, she has pitched 58.1 innings with a 10-1 record with 129 K’s and a 1.20 ERA and a .111 BAA.

For her career she is just 12 K’s away from 200 total

Abby also plays volleyball at her school and has been a team captain.

*** Miley Kate McMullan, a 2028 pitcher with Orange Beach (Ala.) High, pitched 22 innings in games from March 10 to March 15 and was nearly flawless as she struck out 28 opposing hitters and didn’t allow an earned run while giving up no walks.

She started three of her team’s five games and came in relief for one.

Miley Kate also helped her team’s cause with her bat as she hit a three-run home run in the championship game of a tournament in Dothan, Ala.

This was coming off a prior weekend in which she pitched all four games in a Montgomery (Ala.) tournament as well as two other games in which she pitched 22 innings with 35 K’s and no walks.

The ERA for the sophomore pitcher to start the season has been a miniscule 0.35 as she ran up a 10-0 record in Orange Beach High’s 13 wins. In that start, she pitched 49 innings with only two earned runs allowed with 66 strikeouts versus eight walks.

Miley Kate gives the Makos a strong shot to win a sixth straight Alabama High School title after she went 16-1 with a 0.77 ERA last season with 108 K’s in 91 innings pitched.

*** Jessica Hinnant of Smithville (Texas) High is one of the top 2028 pitchers in the nation and, although she only played in one game last week due to Spring Break, it was a masterpiece.

Jess was just one pitch away from a perfect game to open district play as she gave up a full count walk to the second to last batter of the game but otherwise pitched a seven-inning no-hitter with 14 strikeouts.

For the season, the Texan has tossed 51 innings with 91 K’s versus just five walks. She also has a 0.55 ERA to start the 2026 campaign and a .121 batting average against.

Though she had just one game, Jess was busy in other ways as she was invited to the Oklahoma Sooners Spring Elite Camp over the weekend.

Watch for her to continue being one of the elite players in her class over the next few years…

*** Sometimes it’s not just about stats, but when and how a player steps up when needed.

Briley Baggett, a seventh-grade pitcher and first baseman at Brantley (Ala.) High, has had to grow up fast for her varsity softball team after a season-ending ACL injury to Brantley’s ace pitcher (Alex Grimes) during Brantley’s Sweet Sixteen playoff run in basketball.

At the young age of 13, Briley has been both dominant in the circle and at the plate for her varsity team so far—in three games this past week, Briley started and finished two out of the three games and both games she shut out the opposing teams. 

One game went into extra innings tied at 0-0 and Brantley won in the bottom of the 8^th on a walk off hit.  Briley pitched eight innings, had 15 strikeouts and allowed no runs on just three hits.

In Game 2, Branley High won 7-0 as Briley went seven innings with 13 K’s, three hits allowed and no runs given up.

All told, she had 28 K’s in the three games, limited opposing hitters to a .128 batting average and gave up no runs.

She also shined at the plate with a .556 batting average

For the season, she has pitched two no-hitters with four shutout wins and in 29 innings had 55 K’s, a .127 batting average against and a 1.45 ERA.

*** A strong week in the Bayou State for a pair of teammates at one school.

— Victoria Haymon, a 2030 pitcher/first baseman at Anacoco High in Louisiana, had a strong offensive week as she batted .667 with a .727 on-base percentage and a 2.172 OPS.

Victoria smacked two home runs and a double while driving in five runs.

A two-sport athlete who also shines in basketball, she was a 1^st Team All-State honoree last year and a 2026 Colorado Sparkler Showcase Game invitee.

One Anacoco coach explains:

“Victoria brings passion and energy that is unmatched. She is the ultimate teammate who loves to see her teammates succeed and doesn’t shy away from hard work as she is almost always the last one to leave the field. Victoria puts in the work when nobody is looking.”

— Ava Davis, a 2026 CF/SS and teammate of Haymon’s, batted .545 with a .583 on-base percentage and a 2.038 OPS thanks to two home runs, two triples and four RBIs.

A Houston Christian signee, Ava is a two-sport athlete (softball, basketball) that excels in both. She is a 5-time All District player, was the 2025 All District MVP and has been All State four years in a row.

*** Gabriela Frye of Casey-Westfield (Ill.) High was the MaxPreps/NFCA Spring Player of the Week for the North Region as she went 8-for-9 (.889) with eight runs, two doubles, a triple, five walks and 10 RBI for the Warriors.

The sophomore had four multi-hit and multi-RBI games and scored two or more runs in three of her four contests.

*** Also of note in the MaxPreps/NFCA Spring Player of the Week honors was Eunice Velazquez of Marshall (Calif.) High who was perfect in three games for the Eagles as she went 10-for-10 with 10 runs, four doubles, two triples, four walks and 17 RBIs.

She had three hits in each of her first two contests, then had four hits in her final game. Velazquez collected three or more runs and drove in at least five runs in all three appearances.

*** Finally, what is it in the Lone Star State this month as the power numbers are off the charts in prep action!

Lauren McIllwain, a 2026 grad committed to Louisiana Tech and a senior at Wakeland High in Frisco, Texas (12-5A play), went 5-for-5 with three of the hits being home runs and the other pair being doubles.

In the week’s action, Lauren compiled a silly good 3.20 slugging percentage to also go with six runs scored and four stolen bases.

On the season, Lauren—who plays club ball for Hotshots National 18U – Naudin/Hooker—has 12 home runs already in the young 2026 season.

— Brentt Eads/Line Drive Media

Previous 2026 Line Drive Softball National High School Player of the Week

• 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 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 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