Extra Inning Softball’s National High School Player of the Week—May 20, 2021 (Week 12)

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, May 9, 2021 through Saturday, May 15, 2021…

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

* Abby Ota, the 2021 shortstop for Joel Barlow (Redding, Connecticut) High, is wrapping up her senior year and high school softball career in grand fashion.

Last week, the South Florida signee played five games and went an amazing 15-for-16 at the plate with a triple, two walks, 13 stolen bases and 10 runs scored to help Barlow qualify for the playoffs.

And it’s not like it was a one-week explosion that is out of the ordinary— for the season through Sunday, May 16, 2021, Abby was leading Connecticut across all divisions in batting average (.829), on-base percentage (.848) and steals (33-for-33) in 13 games.

What’s working so well, we asked her?

“I’ve been just trying to make adjustments to the different pitchers we go up against and what the defense does,” Abby told Extra Inning Softball this week. “If they stay back, I bunt. And if they come in, I try to hit it hard wherever the pitch comes. I’m just doing anything I can to help us win games.

It’s not a late-in-the-career outburst, either; Abby’s current high school career batting average is .685 and she’s been a tough, tough out for many years.

As sophomore in 2019, Abby led the state of Connecticut across all divisions in four primary offensive categories – batting average (.725), hits (58), on-base percentage (.771) and stolen bases (38/38) – and her batting average was tied for 6th in the nation, according to MaxPreps.

She also reached her 100th career hit in just her 45th game, and her team advanced to the quarterfinals of the state tournament for only the second time in school history.

Last summer, after being named Gatorade Connecticut Player of the Year, she played with and against D1 college players with the Stratford Brakettes, a storied adult fastpitch organization in Stratford, CT, and led the entire program in five offensive categories: batting average (.552), hits (48), on base percentage (.576) runs (38) and stolen bases (27) in 29 games.

Runner-Up National Players of the Week

* Charlotte Christian (North Carolina) won the NCISAA 4A State Championship and finished the season 17-2 behind two standout players who are ranked highly in their respective classes:

— Wynne Gore, the 2022 P/UT committed to North Carolina State, pitched 33 innings and compiled 42 K’s with a 2.33 ERA and also was strong at the plate, producing a .526 batting average, a .550 OBP and had a home run, two doubles and eight RBIs.

— Anna Hinde, the 2025 infielder, hit .611 in the state playoffs with a .650 on-base percentage and 1.222 slugging percentage including three home runs and 10 RBIs.

Honorable Mention National Players of the Week

* Gina Dudley, a 2022 P/IF for Fremd (Illinois) High School (a 4A division school in a Chicago suburb) pitched a perfect game on May 14and followed up with a shutout on May 15, 2021.

The Rhodes College commit faced 15 batters in the perfect game and struck out 12 and the other three outs didn’t leave the infield thanks to a strong change-up and good spins.

Gina leads the pitching staff at Fremd High School with 97 strikeouts over 57 innings in the delayed start to the high school season.

She also batted .333 with a .500 on-base percentage.

* Keri Munn, the 2021 P/UT for Coffee County Central (Tennessee) High and Middle Tennessee State signee, was named her District Pitcher of the Year and showed why when she threw three district playoff games.

In the contests, Keri pitched 18 innings and had 20 K’s with no runs allowed—all three were shutouts and one was a perfect game to clinch the district title for the Lady Raiders.

* Macie Howes, the 2022 C for Christian Academy (Louisville, Kentucky), continued her strong season with a batting average of 700 (7-for 10) with two home runs, three doubles, a triple, four walks, four RBIs, 12 runs scored, and six stolen bases leading the team to a 4-0 record for the week.

Through 24 games this season she is leading the state with a 1.461 slugging percentage and is on the Kentucky leader board in almost every other offensive category: she currently has a .605 batting average (12th), 13 home runs (5th), six triples (T-6th), 14 doubles (T-6th), 29 RBIs, 49 runs (5th), 15 walks, and 12 stolen bases.

The team outscored opponents 37-9 in those four wins this week.

* Madison “Pickle” Winkler, who we heard from in her Inside Pitch last night, is a 2022 CF who also plays well in the Bluegrass State.

Last week in six games, she went 8-for-14 (.571) with a .714 OBP thanks to seven walks and also had two home runs with nine RBIs.

The Louisville commit also went 9-for-10 in steals and batted .800 with runners in scoring position as the team’s leadoff batter. Pickle also poked her first career grand slam.

Impressively, she’s #1 academically in her class and already has 27 college hours of credits going into her senior year next year.

* Ella Boyer, a 2023 SS from Tuscola (Illinois) High, was in the zone last week as she went 9-for-13 (.692 batting average) with four home runs and all were in consecutive at-bats.

One of her home runs was a walk-off Monday night when she went 3-for-4 with three RBIS and the next game she cracked three home runs in a row—one a two-run dingers and the others were three run shots—to give her eight home runs in that game alone.

For the season, 13 games in the delayed campaign, Ella is 29-for-43 (.674 ave) with six home runs, eight doubles, 21 runs scored and has led her Tuscola Warriors team to a 13-0 record.

6HR, 2 3B, 8 2B, 33 RBI, 21 Runs Scored, 2 Stolen Bases. Her Tuscola Warriors team (@ldsementigroup1 on Twitter) is 13-0 and ranked #5 in the state.

* Paytn Monticelli, a 2022 P/IF for Cedarburg (Wisconsin) High, had a great week, throwing a perfect game and later two complete game shutouts totaling 31 strikeouts in 17 innings.

The Wisconsin commit pitched a six-inning shutout with 12 K’s a week ago Monday and

Then tossed a perfect game on May 13th versus a conference foe. In the 11-0 win in 5 innings, Paytn compiled 11 K’s.

She then won a pair on May 15^th pitching two shutouts in 80-minute time limited games. In the first she had 15 strikeouts to account for all her team’s out and in the second game that went six inning she had 16 K’s.

For the season, the dominating pitcher has 120 strikeouts in only 50.1 innings with only five walks and an ERA of 0.84

*** 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: [email protected].

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Extra Inning Softball National High School Players of the Week (Historically)

2021 Extra Inning Softball National High School Players of the Week

• May 11: IF Kali Heivilin (Three Rivers, Michigan)
• May 4: P Maya Johnson (St. Joseph Academy, Cleveland, Ohio)
• 27: P/UT Karlyn Pickens (North Buncombe, Weaverville, North Carolina)
• 20: P/IF Madison Inscoe (Nansemond-Suffolk Academy, Suffolk, Virginia)
• 13: P Keagan Rothrock (Roncalli, Indianapolis, Indiana)
• 6: C Jayla Castro (Rocklin, California)
• 30: SS Brooke Blankenship (River Ridge, New Port Richey, Florida)
• 23: SS Rylee Cloud (Fairview, Grant, Louisiana)
• 16: IF Jenna Madison (Curry, Jasper, Alabama)
• 9: P/IF Annabelle Widra (Spain Park, Hoover, Alabama)
• 2: C/3B Elizabeth Moffitt (Prosper, Texas)

2020 Extra Inning Softball National High School Players of the Week

• 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 Extra Inning Softball National High School Players of the Week

• 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 Extra Inning Softball National High School Players of the Week

• 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)