LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Medfield’s (Mass.) Kaelyn Larkin, Newark’s (Ill.) Kodi Rizzo, Pace’s (Fla.) Jayden Heavener, Conners’ (Ky.) Averie Lightner, and Cedar Park Christian’s (Wash.) Malaya Nelson were named MaxPreps / NFCA National High School Players of the Week for games played May 13-19.
Larkin keyed Medfield to a 3-1 week, batting .769 (10-for-13) with two doubles, a triple, four home runs, 11 RBI and nine runs scored. She drew three walks, posted an .812 on-base percentage and slugged 2.000. Three of her long balls and seven RBI came in a win over Dover-Sherborn. Larkin also homered and drove in three runs versus Norwood.
Rizzo was nearly unhittable in a pair of complete-game shutouts last week, including a no-hitter against Yorkville Christian. She finished 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA and 35 strikeouts over 14 innings. She allowed just one hit and walked three. Against Yorkville Christian, Rizzo fanned a season-high 19 and walked two. The senior hurler followed that performance with a one-hit shutout of St. Edward in which she struck out 16 more batters and issued one free pass
Heavener twirled a pair of no-hitters and struck out 34 batters helping Pace win the Region 1-6A title and advance to the Florida High School Athletic Association 6A state tournament. In the semifinals against Niceville, the senior southpaw struck out 18 and surrendered three walks. Heavener went on to fan 14 Hagerty batters with one walk in the Region championship game.
Lightner batted .900 (9-for-10) with five doubles and 10 RBI. She slugged 1.400 and recorded a .909 on-base percentage. In wins over Campbell County and Scott, she drove in four runs, registered four and three hits, respectively. Lightner doubled twice against Scott and Ludlow.
Nelson hit .818 (9-for-11) with five home runs, 13 RBI and 11 runs scored in four wins last week for the Eagles. She also added a double, triple and six walks with a .882 on-base percentage and 2.455 slugging percentage. On top of that, Nelson tossed a five-inning no-hitter against South Whidbey with nine strikeouts. In that contest against the Falcons, she homered twice, drove in five runs and scored three times. The senior homered in each of the other three contests with a four-RBI effort in game one against Granite Falls.
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 a coach must enter his or her athlete's game stats into MaxPreps.com by Sunday evening to be eligible for that week’s award.
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
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