STARKVILLE, Miss. – Seniors Meghan Acton of Island Trees High School in Levittown, N.Y., Rachel Engel of Eau Gallie High School in Melborne, Fla., Cheridan Hawkins of Anderson High School in Anderson, Calif., Ashlen Portwood of Milford High School in Milford, Ill., and Rachel Yeary of Bell County High School in Pineville, Ky. have all been named as the High School Players of the Week for their respective regions by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association for games played through March 24, 2012.

With play in the East Region getting underway, Acton takes this season's first MaxPreps honor. The senior took advantage of the region's unseasonably warm temperatures with a hot bat. Against MacArthur, she went 3 for 4 with 2 homeruns and 4 RBI. Acton finished the week with a .500 average and 1.100 slugging percentage. Her efforts have helped the Bulldogs get off to a 3-0 start this season.

In the South Region, Engel also had an oustanding week at the plate. The catcher/outfielder hit .600 with 6 runs scored and 10 RBI, including hitting a homerun in 3 of the 4 games she played in this week. Her 1.700 slugging percentage on the week was tops in the region. With her efforts at the plate, senior helped lead the #19 nationally ranked Commodores to a 4-0 finish this week. So far this season, Engel owns a .508 average with 24 runs scored, 27 RBI and a 1.016 slugging percentage. The Commodores are 19-1 overall and 4-0 in conference.

Representing the West Region, Hawkins had an outstanding week in the circle. The senior went 3-0 with three shutouts, including throwing a no-hitter in a 9-0 win over Sutter (Calif.). She scattered 2 hits in 19 innings while striking out 48 of the 61 batters that she faced, with 22 of those K's coming in a 9 inning battle over Foothill (Calif.). With this Hawkins improved her overall ERA to .12 and has held opposing teams to a meager .048 average on the season. Her efforts helped the Cubs record  improve to 10-1.

Out of the North Region, Portwood has been enjoying a strong start at the plate this season, going 7 for 11 including 2 doubles, a triple, a homerun, and 8 RBI. With this the senior improved her overall average to .500. Portwood's efforts helped the Bearcats finish 2-1 on the week.

Rounding out this week's awards from the South Central Region, Yeary was outstanding on both sides of the ball. The senior hit .750 and went 3-0 in the circle, including tossing a shutout over Claiborne (Tenn.). Yeary finished the week 26 strikeouts and an ERA of .82. The wins helped the Bobcats off to a 3-0 start on the year.
 
MaxPreps.com, the official high school statistical provider of the NFCA, provides all statistics for the NFCA High School Player of the Week award. 

To nominate a player for the award, the coach must enter his or her athlete's game stats into MaxPreps.com by Sunday evening to be eligible for that week’s award. The NFCA High School Players of the Week, one for each high school region, will be announced by the Association on www.nfca.org every Monday during the spring season. 

MaxPreps is a free stat tool that is available to high school coaches across the country and is one of the most recognized and respected high school athletics web sites on the internet. Coaches that enter their team’s stats on Max Preps will not only be nominating their players for this award, but they will be getting their team’s information out to thousands of high school sports fans, as well as college coaches across the country. 

To obtain a coach’s login, please contact: coachsupport@maxpreps.com or call (800) 329-7324 x1. To enter a team’s stats on the MaxPreps website, please click here.