LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Shepaug Valley’s (Conn.) Amelia Jacob, Wisconsin Lutheran’s Sydney Vitangcol, Nansemond-Suffolk Academy’s (Va.) Malli Groves, Legacy School of Sport Sciences’ (Texas) Cecilia Gonzales and Ocosta’s (Wash.) Jessie Gilbert were named 2023 MaxPreps/NFCA National High School Players of the Week. The quintet garnered recognition for games played May 15-21.
East Region
Jacob tossed three shutouts, including a no-hitter last week. She struck out 49 batters, walked four and surrendered three hits over 20 innings of work. Jacob no-hit Wamogo Regional, fanning 18 and issuing one walk. She recorded a two-hit shutout with 14 punchouts versus Coginchaug Regional and added 17 more strikeouts in a six-inning one-hitter against Terryville.
North Region
Vitangcol twirled three complete-game shutouts, striking out 41, walking four and allowing five hits. She blanked New Berlin twice on one (13 K) and two (12 K) hits, respectively. Vitangcol fanned a week-high 16 batters in a 5-0 triumph over South Milwaukee. She also helped herself out at the plate, going 8-for-12 (.750) with two doubles, a home run, five RBI and six runs scored.
South Region
Groves batted .800 (8-for-10) with two doubles, two home runs, 10 RBI and five runs scored. She slugged 1.600 and registered an .818 on-base percentage. Registered three multi-hit and multi-RBI contests, Groves posted a 4-for-4 outing with two doubles, three RBI and three runs scored versus Fredericksburg Christian. She homered in wins over Foxcroft (4 RBI) and Isle of Wight (3 RBI).
South Central Region
Gonzales was 6-for-7 (.857) with a double, three triples, a home run and eight RBI. She scored seven runs, slugged 2.285, posted a .909 on-base percentage and swiped seven bases. Gonzales drove in five runs, scored three times and was a single away from the cycle against KIPP East End. She also tripled against International Leadership of Texas Keller and IDEA Edinburg College Prep.
West Region
Tossing four straight no-hitters, Gilbert struck out 66 batters over 27 innings in four complete-game shutouts last week. She fanned 19 batters in 1-0 and 2-0 victories over Onalaska and Pe Ell. Gilbert did not walk a batter in the first outing and faced just one batter over the minimum. She added 15 and 13 strikeouts against Adna and Toutle Lake (6 IP), respectively.
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.
Winners are announced on NFCA.org every Monday during the spring campaign with a player from each of five separate MaxPreps’ high school regions being selected.
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 websites on the internet. Coaches who enter their team’s stats on MaxPreps 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.
The NFCA (National Fastpitch Coaches Association) is the professional organization for fastpitch softball coaches. Known for its highly-regarded coaches polls and All-America awards, the NFCA also educates and supports softball coaches on a variety of different levels: from podcasts to awards, to in-person events and National Convention.
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MaxPreps/NFCA High School Softball Players of the Week
