We have some amazing performances this week including consecutive no-hitters (try four in a row!), perfection at the plate and a nationally-known pitcher who is also collecting huge numbers of intentional walks because of her dangerous bat!
Each Tuesday for the next several months we’ll honor top performances nationwide; if you’d like to have a player considered, scroll down to see how to fill in a nomination.
Players below are recognized for play in games Sunday, Apr. 18, 2021 through Saturday, Apr. 24, 2021…
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Extra Inning Softball’s National High School Player of the Week
* Last month (March 23, 2021), Karlyn Pickens of North Buncombe High in Weaverville, North Carolina was a Runner-Up National Player of the Week and this week she gets the top honor after throwing a perfect game, going 4-for-5 at the plate and, would you believe, getting seven intentional walks in three games.
The University of Tennessee commit also was clocked at 72 mph in one of the trio of games by the baseball coach of one of the teams she faced, who then showed the recorded time to all those in the stands.
“The team we faced, Tuscola High, is a community of Tennessee Vols fans and a lot of people showed up because they wanted to see if this future UT pitcher can really throw 72 miles per hour!” the pitcher’s mother, Rebecca, told Extra Inning Softball this morning.
Imagine how happy the SEC school fans will be to learn that she also clocked a personal best of 73 mph in workouts this week with her pitching coach, Brandon Carr, who is the Chattanooga State assistant coach and pitching instructor who has given lessons to current Power 5 pitchers like Shelby Walters at Duke, Ashley Rogers at Tennessee and Caylan Arnold at Florida State. Note: previously Karlyn worked with Stacey Johnson-Whitfield, who helped her achieve her top 10 player ranking and UT commitment; Coach Johnson-Whitfield is currently the pitching coach at Furman and can no longer work with Karlyn being an active college assistant.
“I am very humbled and blessed to have the opportunity to work with Karlyn,” Coach Carr said this week. “Her natural ability, coupled with her tenacious work ethic, will undoubtedly produce a caliber of player that will leave a lasting impact on our game.”
For the week, Karlyn went 4-for-5 with a single, double and two home runs and, in the game where she hit the pair of homers, her Lady Hawks team tied a state record for most home runs in a game by a team with eight.
In the circle, the junior who is ranked #6 in the 2022 Extra Elite 100, had 25 K’s in 10 innings and didn’t give up a hit to run her record on the season to 8-0—her team is 11-0 and currently ranked #2 in the North Carolina 3A standings.
*** For more on Karlyn, check out this profile from last summer ttitled “Player Spotlight: 2022 Extra Elite 100 Pitcher Karlyn Pickens… a Special Talent with a “Special Heart”
One of those games, the Tuscola win, Karlyn had 17K’s in seven innings and threw a perfect game. Perhaps one reason why: she didn’t have to exert herself too much at the plate as she was walked intentionally all five times she stepped in the box!
The tall two-way threat was walked intentionally seven times in her three games and admits it can be frustrating at times but tries to look on the positive side of being on base at a .833 clip in her teams 11 games.
“It shows respect for me which I appreciate,” she says, “and I try to take advantage of it and try to score as many times as possible.”
For the season, Karlyn is batting .588 and because of the 22 intentional free passes only has 17 official at-bats but in those limited offensive opps has five home runs, three dobules and two singles to give her a .588 batting average.
She’s also knocked in 15 runs, scored 25 herself and has a total of 24 walks.
Not surprisingly, her pitching stats are equally gaudy: the UT commit has totalled 58 innings pitched in 10 games and of the 195 batters she’s faced, Karlyn has struck out 148 of them.
She’s also compiled a 0.12 ERA and has given up just two hits in those 58 innings for a measly .023 batting average and had that perfect game, which she admits she knew was taking place but wasn’t superstitious about it.
“Yea, I kind of knew it was happening,” she laughs, “and I was the one talking about it and everyone else in the dugout was telling me to be quiet or I’d jinx it!”
Runner-Up National Players of the Week
* Hannah Ortega, a senior pitcher with Linden (California) High, is on one heck of a pitching streak.
The Bethune Cookman signee threw four games last week for a total of 18.1 innings and all four games were no-hitters with one being a perfect game. Hannah struck out 35 in the quartet of wins and, get this, is currently on a six-game non-no streak!
Hannah also batted 7-for-11 (.636) with three doubles.
On the year she is 9-2 and is currently #4 in the state and #2 in the San Joaquin Section with her 0.24 ERA and #3 in the section with 110 strikeouts.
Hannah also recently collected her career 500th strikeout.
* Abbey Smith, the talented senior centerfielder for James Bowie High in Austin, Texas is on a high today for multiple reasons.
The Auburn signee and 2021 Extra Elite 100 honoree helped her team win the district championship last night in a 6-3 win over Hays High.
Heading into the matchup, both teams were 11-2 as they faced off in the showdown for the District 26-6A title.
Last week on the softball field, Abbey went 11-for-13 (.846) with an on-base percentage of .857, an OPS of 2.242 and scored eight runs while going 3-for-3 in steals.
In addition to her successful week of softball, Abbey also represented Bowie High School in the District 25-26 6A Area Track Meet & competed in the triple jump, 200m dash where she set the school record, the 4x100m and 4x200m relays where she qualified for the Region 4 Track & Field Championships in three of the four events.
Honorable Mention National Players of the Week
* Addie Mettler, the super sophomore for Pitman (Turlock, California) High, like many in the Golden State had a late start to the season because of COVID, but got her 2021 campaign off to a perfect start as she went 7-for-7 last week with three home runs, eight RBIs and also behind the plate threw out two would-be base stealers.
For the season, Addie—a top 5-ranked player in last year’s 2023 Extra Elite 100—is hitting .900 (9-for-10).
* Nehanda Lewis, a 2022 SS for Land O Lakes High (Florida) High, went 6-for-6 last week with two triples and three doubles while knocking in eight runs and compiling a 1.000 fielding percentage.
The Central Florida commit is hitting .516 for the season with three home runs, 35 RBIs, five triples and a 1.543 OPS.
* Ashlyn Dulaney, a 2022 C/CIF for David Crockett High in Jonesborough, Tennessee, lead her team to a 5-0 mark last week and the title of regular season conference champions.
Ashlyn went 9-for-17 at the plate with 6sixhome runs, 11 RBIs and eight runs scored. She was behind the plate for 15 innings, allowing only one passed ball and throwing out the only runner attempting to steal on her.
* Lauren Wasikowski, a 2022 P/UT for St. Joseph (Trumbell, Connecticut) High, gave up just one unearned run and three hits while striking out 35 in 12 innings of work last week. In one of her two wins, she gave up two hits and a walk but recorded all 21 outs via strikeout.
Offensively, she batted .500 (6-for-12) with a pair of doubles, three RBIs and six runs scored and was named the MaxPreps/NFCA National High School Player of the Week for the East Region.
*** Scroll down to read about more outstanding performances across the nation in high school softball last week!
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Nomination Process
Each week during the spring and summer high school seasons, Extra Inning Softball honors a National High School Player of the Week.
Honoree are announced every Tuesday ; 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 2021 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: info@extrainningsoftball.com.
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Extra Inning Softball National High School Players of the Week (Past & Present)
2021
- Apr. 20: P/IF Madison Inscoe (Nansemond-Suffolk Academy, Suffolk, Virginia)
- Apr. 13: P Keagan Rothrock (Roncalli, Indianapolis, Indiana)
- Apr. 6: C Jayla Castro (Rocklin, California)
- Mar. 30: SS Brooke Blankenship (River Ridge, New Port Richey, Florida)
- Mar. 23: SS Rylee Cloud (Fairview, Grant, Louisiana)
- Mar. 16: IF Jenna Madison (Curry, Jasper, Alabama)
- Mar. 9: P/IF Annabelle Widra (Spain Park, Hoover, Alabama)
- Mar. 2: C/3B Elizabeth Moffitt (Prosper, Texas)
2020
Season cancelled in March due to COVID-19 pandemic
- Mar. 17: P Kenzi Lyall (Alleghany, Sparta, North Carolina)
- Mar. 10: C Maci Bergeron (Notre Dame, Crowley, Louisiana)
- Mar. 3: IF Jayda Coleman (The Colony, Texas)
- Feb. 26: IF/P Micaela Wark (Reedy, Frisco, Texas)
2019
- Jun. 10: P/1B Sydney Supple (North, Oshkosh, Wisconsin)
- May 27: P Aynslie Furbush (Winter Springs, Florida)
- May 20: SS Bailey Dowling (St. Joseph-Ogden, St. Joseph, Illinois)
- May 13: P Britton Rogers (Cypress Ranch, Cypress, Texas)
- May 6: C Neely Peterson (Cypress Creek Middle, Wesley Chapel, Florida)
- Apr. 29: OF/IF/P Angela Zedak (Marist, Chicago, Illinois)
- Apr. 22: SS Kali Heivilin (Three Rivers, Michigan)
- Apr. 15: 3B Trinity Cannon (Forney, Texas)
- Apr. 8: P/1B Sydney Supple (North, Oshkosh, Wisconsin)
- Apr. 1: OF Leea Hanks (Eustis, Florida)
- Mar. 25: P/IF Madison Inscoe (Nansemond-Suffolk Academy, Suffolk, Virginia)
- Mar. 18: 1B/OF Avery Goelz (Lakewood Ranch, Bradenton, Florida)
- Mar. 11: OF/2B Tanya Windle (Cactus, Glendale, Arizona)
- Mar. 4: SS Hallie Wacaser (Bentonville West, Centerton, Arkansas)
- Feb. 25: P Stevie Hansen (Norco, California)
2018
- May 27: P Lexi Kilfoyl (Academy at the Lakes, Land O’ Lakes, Florida)
- May 20: P Ashley Rogers (Meigs County, Decatur, Tennessee)
- May 13 (tie): P Sydney Supple (Oshkosh North, Oshkosh, Wisconsin)
- May 13 (tie): OF Lexi Voss (Marist, Chicago, Illinois)
- May 6: P Danielle Williams (Amador Valley, Pleasanton, California)
- April 29: P Montana Fouts (East Carter, Grayson, Kentucky)
- April 22: IF Kasey Simpson (Keller, Texas)
- April 15: SS Jayda Coleman (The Colony, Texas)
- April 8: P Megan Faraimo (Cathedral Catholic, San Diego, California)
- April 1: C Macy Simmons (Hamilton, Chandler, Arizona)
- March 25: C Paige Pfent (Springstead, Spring Hill, Florida)
- March 18: SS/OF Deja Westbrook (Arcadia, California)
- March 11: P Megan Faraimo (Cathedral Catholic, San Diego, California)
