We announce this week’s Extra Inning Softball National High School Player of the Week awards by going to California for a standout offensive display and a strong pitching performance in Texas.
If you’d like to nominate players for future consideration, email us at info@extrainningsoftball.com.
We’re looking for top performances in high school play each week that can be on a single game or cumulative week basis.
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Extra Inning Softball’s National High School Player of the Week
Deja Westbrook (Arcadia, California)
You can’t do much better at the plate than junior shortstop/centerfielder Deja Westbrook did this week for her Arcadia High team.
The Cal Baptist commit, who plays club ball for Kimbo Howard’s Corona Angels 16U team, went 8-for-10 this week in four games and also in her 13 at-bats reached two more times after being hit by the pitcher.
Through six games this spring, Deja is hitting .706 with six doubles and a triple with a remarkable on-base percentage of .773, a slugging percentage of 1.176 and an OPS of 1.949.
Deja has picked up where she left off last season when she did not have a strikeout her entire sophomore season and batted .553 with 31 runs scored, 17 doubles and four triples. She’s also gone 10-for-11 over the last two seasons on the base paths.
After her strong 2017 campaign, Deja was named the Pacific League Co-Player of the Year, 1st Team All-CIF Div. IV and 1st team All-San Gabriel Valley.
The standout from So Cal has a 3.7 GPA and looks forward to playing for Cal Baptist, which will be transitioning to Div. I this year and will play in the WAC Conference.
“Playing for the Corona Angels has taught me how important it is to compete every pitch,” Deja says, “and has made more aggressive as a player.
Look for another talented softball player to come up through the Westbrook family as well as younger sister, Tiara, is a pitcher/shortstop for Toni Mascarenas’s talented OC Batbuster 12U team.
Runner-Up National Player of the Week
Erna Carlin (Waller, Texas)
If the name Erna Carlin sounds familiar, especially in the club world, it’s because the freshman was the ace for the Texas Sudden Impact team that won the PGF Premier 12U National Championship in July of 2016.
In that championships victory, Erna pitched a complete game five-hitter with four strikeouts.
She since has moved on to Troy Falterman’s Diamond Sports Hotshots Premier 14U team, one of the favorites to win a title at that age group, and the Waller (Texas) High pitcher has continued to show why she’s considered one of the top hurlers in her class.
On Tuesday, the Texas Tech commit struck out 12 in a five-inning 10-0 mercy rule win and scattered five hits while giving up no earned runs. It was the only game of the week for the Bulldogs because of spring break.
The right-hander has led her team to a 10-8 record, but 4-0 in district and is up to 143 K’s already in this young season and has completely turned the program around after Waller went 0-12 in 2017.
Previous National Players of the Week:
- March 11: Megan Faraimo (Cathedral Catholic, San Diego, California)
