Extra Inning Softball’s National High School Player of the Week – Mar. 10, 2020

We already have some repeat performers vying for the Extra Inning Softball National High School Player of the Week but an offensive display in the South really caught our eye.

This week’s POW is a top 2022 grad known for her catching expertise, but she even pitched an impressive game to help her team. And her power display was eye-opening!

Games are for Sunday, March 1 through Saturday, March 7, 2020…

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Extra Inning Softball’s National High School Player of the Week

* Already known as one of the top catchers and power-hitters in the Class of 2022, Maci Bergeron of Notre Dame (Crowley, Louisiana) High had what could be considered a good month, even a season, for many players last week.

The LSU commit went 9-for-13 (.692 batting average) with five home runs, a triple and four walks at the plate while pitching a five inning (run rule) one-hit complete game with four strikeouts.

Maci compiled a .765 on-base percentage last week which included four walks, compiled a 1.538 slugging percentage and a strong 2.303 OPS in the four wins for the Pioneers and helped her team run its record to 9-1. Notre Dame’s next game is on Wednesday.

Well-known in the club world, the outstanding catcher who was a Top 5 player in the 2022 Extra Elite 100 published last year (updated starting March 30) has already won three travel ball championships at PGF Nationals at the 10U, 12U and 14U levels and is known for her great arm strength in gunning down runners, which she did at an 85 percent clip in the fall season.

But it’s her dangerous bat that is causing waves at the high school level so far this year where the junior is hitting .528 with nine home runs, 28 RBIs and a 1.967 overall OPS in the first 10 games of the season.

We asked her if she feels she’s at another level this year at the plate.

“Yes, I do feel like I’m in a zone when I get up to the plate,” she admitted. “I have all the confidence in the world right now. I’ve been working on my craft and I feel like I can hit any pitch at this point. I feel like my hitting game is better this season that it was last season due to experience as I’ve learned that it takes patience to hit and to look for your pitch to hit.”

As for her pitching, she says she’s fine being on the other side of the battery (catching).

“I decided to help my team by pitching this season, but I only want to do this for high school ball and only if it is necessary in the future,” Maci stated.

Looking ahead to the summer, she was part of the defending PGF 14U National champs, Tennessee Mojo – Fisher team last summer which is now playing at 16U. Maci’s club coach, Josh Fisher, has been impressed with Maci’s off the field characteristics as well as those on the field.

“Maci is not only an incredible player and athlete but she is also an even better kid,” Fisher begins. “She is a fierce competitor, who possess’ the entire five-tool skill set, which makes her one of the most elite players in the country. Maci is an extremely hard worker and one of the strongest players that I’ve ever coached. It’s been a lot of fun to watch her grow, both as a player and young lady. She continues her upward path of potential, seemingly every time I see her perform.”

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Runner-Up Players of the Week

* We have several names we’ve seen before including sophomore shortstop Kylei Griffin from Chapel Hill (Tyler, Texas) High who was a Runner-Up Player of the Week last week as well when she hit .626 with a .725 on-base percentage. This week, the shortstop committed to Nebraska had another huge week hitting .789 (15-for-19) with four home runs and 13 RBIs to go with a 2.302 OPS. Kylei was the Tournament MVP of the Will Brown Memorial Tournament and already has helped her team triple the number of wins it had from last year.

* Aissa Silva, a freshman left-handed pitcher, first baseman and centerfielder for Elk Grove (California) High has made an impressive debut at the prep level as she had 34 K’s in 20 innings pitched—including a 13-strikeout game–with a 1.75 ERA and is hitting .400. Her brother, Franky Silva, calls the pitches for Aissa who plays club ball at the 18U level already for a top NorCal program, Sorcerers Old Skool.

* Another freshman of note who had a great start was Addison Mettler, from Pitman (Turlock, California) High who went 8-for-12 with two doubles, two triples, 12 RBUs and three steals in her prep debut. Addison, ranked in the Top 5 of the 2023 Extra Elite 100, has helped her team to a 5-0-1 start.

* Sticking with breakout freshmen, Rylei Trujillo, a pitcher and leadoff hitter for Center (Antelope, California) helped her team go 6-1 in its first week of action. Ranked in the Top 50 of the 2023 Extra Elite 100, she went 2-1 in the circle with 43 K’s in 20 innings pitched and limited the opposing batters to just a .091 batting average. At the plate Rylei hit .529 going 9-for-17 with a .600 on-base percentage.

* Trinity Cannon was a National Player of the Week last year (April 15, 2019 ) and has started off the 2020 season well also.  A senior at Forney (Texas) High, she batted .647 last week on 11-of-17 hitting and had two HRs, 11 RBIs with a pair of doubles and steals. Trinity is committed to Texas A&M and already has won a state title at the 5A level for her Jackrabbits softball program.

* Villa Park (California) High sophomore Sydney Somerndike was impressive last week facing some of the top teams in Southern California. She started against Orange Lutheran, Saugus, Los Alamitos and Canyon High going 3-1 with 32 Ks in 23 innings and an ERA of 1.45. Her hitting also helped her cause as she went 6-for-14 (.429) including a game winning three-run home run against Saugus.

* Alexis Milanowski repeats as a consecutive Runner-Up POW as she once again hit .500 or better and surpassed her four home runs from last week. The sophomore infielder/catcher with Houston Academy (Dothan, Alabama) High went 10-for-19 (.526) with five homers and 15 RBIs in seven games last week. She is hitting .529 for the season and has 11 home runs and 33 RBIs already.

* Pitcher Tyler Denhart, a senior headed to Southern Utah, had a big weekend as she helped Los Alamitos (California) High win the Dave Kops TOC as she collected big wins in the semis over Ironwood Ridge (Ariz.) and Crescenta Valley (Calif.). For the week, Tyler had 6 wins with a2.55 ERA and 31 K’s in 33 innings pitched, limiting the opponents to a .202 batting average.

*. Morgan Louviere, a junior pitcher from Northside Christian (Crowley, Louisiana) High went 3-0 this week and in 16 innings pitched had 21 K’s, but the highlight of the week was a perfect game (five innings) she pitched against Bell City. In that contest, Morgan struck out 9 and retired all 15 batters she faced.  For the season she is 5-0 with a 1.08 ERA and 49 K’s in 31 innings pitched.

* Laney Roos repeats from last week after she had four homers with an .826 batting average and 25 K’s in 20 innings at the end of February. This week, the LSU committed-senior from Aubrey (Texas) High had another strong week as she had five home runs and compiled four wins in the circle. Laney even robbed a hitter of a home run by making a great leap at the fence.

* Kailani Tatro, a freshman pitcher at Pinole Valley (Pinole, California) High went 3-0 on the mound with 39 strikeouts only one walk allowed and just two runs allowed in three complete game wins. Kailani also batted cleanup going 6-for-8 (.750 average) with 9 RBIs, and a double, triple , and homer. For the season, the 2023 grad has thrown all the games and recorded two shutouts.

* Paige Dimler, an outfielder for Rancho Bueno Vista (Vista California) High, had a big week in SoCal hitting .643 with two doubles, four home runs, eight runs scored and nine RBIs. The Arizona commit who is a 2021 Extra Elite 100 honoree also didn’t strike out in the five games played last week.

* Marlie Giles, a 2022 graduate who catches for Chilton County (Clanton, Alabama) High was nearly perfect last week, going 7-for-8 (.875 batting average) with three doubles, six RBIs and three home runs. For the year she is batting .643 with a .2087 OPS on five home runs, 19 RBIs in 10 games and 28 at-bats. Marlie has also walked 11 times while not striking out once heading into this week.

* Morgan Hope Tucker, another 2023 standout, went 9-for-12 (.750) with a home run, triple and five doubles while knocking in six RBIs for Sterlington (Louisiana) High. Primarily a second baseman, she has played centerfield and caught for her school this year and for the season is hitting .586 with an on-base percentage of .691.

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Previous 2020 Extra Inning Softball National High School Players of the Week

• Feb. 26, 2020: IF/P Micaela Wark (Reedy, Frisco, Texas)
• Mar. 3, 2020: IF Jayda Coleman (The Colony, Texas)

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How to Submit a Nomination

Each week during the spring and summer high school seasons, Extra Inning Softball will honor a National High School Player of the Week for games the preceding Sunday through Saturday.

The honoree will be announced every Tuesday (after this week); 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 favorite performance(s) by submitting the following:

• Player Name
• Grad Year (example: Class of 2020 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: [email protected].