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This week we have some great offensive performances and shut-down pitching outings, but a huge all-around week by a four-sport athlete from Illinois tips the scale to this All-State player…
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Extra Inning Softball’s National High School Player of the Week
Third’s the charm for Angela Zedak, the outstanding senior infielder/outfielder/pitcher from Marist High in Chicago, Illinois, as she’s been a Runner-Up twice before but this week cinched it with a near-perfect week as she went 6-for-7 (.857 batting average) with four home runs, six RBIs, four walks and a .909 on-base percentage.
She also came up clutch as she hit the winning home run in the top of the 7th in a 3-2 win over Joliet Catholic High and against Plainfield East went 3-for-3 with three home runs–#’s 47, 48 and 49 of her prolific prep career—which broke Brooke Wyderski’s Marist career home run record of 47.
If that weren’t enough, Angela went 2-0 in the pitching circle as she totaled nine innings with nine K’s and two runs allowed.
For her to set a record at Marist shows just how talented and accomplished her career has been.
The RedHawks have won state softball titles in 2012 and 2015 and came in 4th place in 2017 when Angela was a sophomore. The team is regularly in #10 in the state and the past two years has been nationally ranked – currently, Maris is #46 in this week’s Extra Elite Eighty High School Rankings.
Marist Head Coach Colleen Biebel was a four-year varsity player for Marist from 2004 to 2007 and was an assistant coach at the school from 2012 to ’14 before she became the head coach in 2015.
She has seen some great ones in her time as coach, but says of her Northwestern-bound senior: “Angela is the fiercest competitor I have ever coached. She plays with so much heart and passion for the game. She is a true difference-maker on any team she has ever been on.”
What makes her so successful?
“Angela has power, speed, can pitch, play outfield and second base,” Coach Biebel continues. “She is a remarkable kid, not only athletically but academically as well. She is in the top 15 of her class.
Last season, Angela was an Extra Inning Softball All-American and was chosen as All-State for the third consecutive year. She was also made the top 75 of the 2019 Extra Elite 100 rankings.
For the year, the future Big Ten player is hitting .517 (30-for-58) with a 1.310 slugging percentage, 40 RBI, 12 home runs and only one strikeout at the plate. In the circle, she is 10-1 with a 1.57 ERA and 42 K’s in 49 innings.
Last week, Angela went 8-for-10 at the plate with four home runs, 11 RBIs and it seems like she can’t be stopped with the bat.
Her approach at the plate, she explains, is simple.
“My mindset is to hit the ball to right center and be a hard out,” Angela reveals.
With her final high school season well underway, the athlete who missed the summer of 2017 playing for her Illinois Chill club team because of a knee injury, says she is savoring her final prep campaign.
“I really want to have a strong playoff run with the team full of girls that I consider to be family, Angela explains. “This team is incredible, and I am so lucky to play with them.”
She remembers what it was like two years ago and hopes to go even further this spring.
“My proudest softball accomplishment is going to state sophomore year of high school. That was the best weekend of my life.”
The multi-talented player, who had offers from SEC and other Big Ten schools when she committed in the spring of her freshman year, is excited about her softball future in the next few weeks at Marist as well as this summer, her last in club ball, and then in college.
“Softball means the world to me,” Angela states. “I wouldn’t be who I am without softball. It is the thing that I can come to and no matter what happens, I always leave satisfied.”
Runner-Up Players of the Week
* Another player having a huge season from the Land of Lincoln is Lauren Harris, the freshman shortstop from Woodlawn (Illinois) High who only was able to play in two games because of weather last week but went 5-for-6 with two home runs, three RBIs and compiled an .833 on-base percentage, a 2.333 slugging percentage and a 3.167 OPS. For the season, the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajun commit is batting .600 in 22 games with 11 home runs, 29 RBI and only one strikeout in 82 plate appearances.
* Avery Goelz , the Florida junior first baseman for the #1 ranked Lakewood Ranch (Bradenton, Florida) and a previous National Player of the Week–see the list below– led her team to three more wins this past week as her Mustangs now stand at 24-0 entering the playoffs. Avery was 7-for-8 with a pair of home runs, seven RBIs, seven runs score and two steals. She has hit safely in all of her team’s games in 2019.
* Madison Harris, a junior pitcher/first baseman from Brookville (Lynchburg, Virginia) High, pitcher her first career perfect game as her team won 4-0 last Tuesday and Madison had 14 strikeouts. The Virginia commit then pitched a three-hit 2-0 shutout two days later. For the season, Madison is 11-1 with a 0.61 ERA and 108 strikeouts. Hitting, she is currently batting .472 with two home runs and 11 RBI’s
* Former Extra Inning Softball National Player of the Week Sydney Supple, a senior pitcher/infielder signed with Northwestern, continues to roll for her Oshkosh North (Wisconsin) Spartans. The team added three more wins to its now 17-0 record and outscored opponents 30-1 with help from a seven-inning perfect game behind Sydney who now has a 0 .74 ERA. Sydney Supple hit her 10th home run also.
Maggie Darr, a junior pitcher/outfielder from Ridge Point (Missouri Texas), pitched 12 2/3rd innings last week and had 14 K’s and only gave up one earned run in two games. Maggie also hit a stand-up triple to score three runs in one of the games. For the year she is 14-1 for the Panthers with 102 K’s in 89 2/3rd innings and has a .412 batting average as well.
* Megan Schumacher, who we featured last week as a Runner-Up National Player of the Week, had another strong week as the senior from John Jay (East Fishkill, New York) pitched back-to-back shutouts on Wednesday and Thursday versus the #2 ranked team in the state, Mahopac High. In the first game, a one-hitter, the Missouri signee struck out 15 and in the second win, a two-hitter, Megan also had 15 K’s.
* Finally, a strong year continues for our second National Player of the Week in 2019, Hallie Wacaser, the junior shortstop from Bentonville West in Centerton, Arkansas. The Florida State commit went 11-for-19 at the plate—a .579 batting average—with four home runs, 13 RBI, and a .619 on-base percentage. She is hitting .450 on the season, but her on-base percentage is .535 as she has 14 walks as opponents are pitching carefully to her. Hallie has 10 home runs in 23 games with 33 RBI and also 16 steals on the year.
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Previous 2019 Extra Inning Softball National High School Players of the Week
- 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)
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Each week during the spring and summer high school seasons, Extra Inning Softball will honor a National High School Player of the Week.
The honoree will be announced every Monday night/Tuesday morning; cutoff for submitting the nominations is each Sunday at 11 pm EST/8 pm 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 2018 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 your info and photos (1-4 as available) by the cutoff of Sunday 11 pm EST/ 8 pm PST to: [email protected].