LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Pitchers swept the final MaxPreps/NFCA National High School Spring Player of the Week selections for the 2026 season, the Association announced on Monday.
Cheshire’s (Conn.) Jenica Matos led the way with her third selection in the past four weeks, while Hillman’s (Mich.) Gretchen Weiland, Eastside’s (Va.) Emma Sartin and South Warren’s (Ky.) Courtney Norwood were the other recipients from the circle. They are being recognized for their outstanding play for the week of June 8-14.
Matos, who is the East honoree for a second straight week, fanned 41 over 19 innings in the circle for the Rams, including 26 over 12 innings in Tuesday’s 1-0 marathon Connecticut state LL semifinal victory over Darien. She then tossed a seven-inning one-hitter (15 strikeouts) in Saturday’s 2-0 win over Southington in the state final.
In the North, Weiland struck out 14 and pitched a one-hitter in the Tigers’ 2-1 loss in Friday’s Michigan Division 4 state championship game against Mendon. Both runs she allowed were unearned, and she walked just one of the 26 batters she faced over seven innings.
Sartin was the South Region leader, reaching double figures in strikeouts in both her contests for the Spartans. She fanned 15 and allowed no hits or walks in Tuesday’s Virginia state quarterfinal against George Wythe, then struck out 12 more and tossed a two-hitter in Friday’s semifinal loss to Buffalo Gap. For the week, she walked one and allowed just one earned run over 12 innings. Sartin also helped herself at the plate, going 4-for-7 with three runs, a double and two RBI.
South Central honors went to junior Norwood, who struck out 11 and allowed just four hits and no runs over her two final games of the season, as the No. 3 NFCA-ranked (45-0) Spartans captured their first state championship on Saturday. Kentucky’s Tournament Most Valuable Player fanned six over the first four innings of a combined two-hitter with senior Layla Ogden on Friday, then struck out five and walked one in a complete-game two hitter in Saturday’s championship against Bullitt East.
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 the athlete's game stats into MaxPreps.com by Sunday evening to be eligible for that week’s award.
The MaxPreps/NFCA High School Player of the Week is announced on NFCA.org on Mondays during the 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 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 student-athlete 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.
Learn more about the NFCA and consider joining our lineup of over 7,000 coaches today!
