LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Bloomfield’s (N.Y.) Ashlyn Wright, Ishpeming’s (Mich.) Payton Manninen, Evangelical Christian’s (Fla.) Zoe Yzaguirre, Beckville’s (Texas) Bethany Grandgeorge and West Valley’s (Alaska) Kayla Anthony were named MaxPreps / NFCA National High School Players of the Week for games played May 20-26.
Wright twirled a pair of shutouts, including a no-hitter last week, registering 32 strikeouts and not walking a batter. The junior no-hit Campbell-Savona on May 20, striking out 14 and facing just two batters over the minimum. Wright followed up that performance with a two-hit blanking of Letchworth in which she fanned 18 batters, her second highest total of the season.
Over four games, Manninen went 12-for-14 (.857) at the plate, clubbing five home runs, recording 17 RBI and slugging 2.286. She added three doubles, a triple, 12 runs scored and two walks. Manninen connected on two of her long balls and drove in five runs in game two versus Calumet. In game one against the Copper Kings, the senior was 3-for-4 with a double, triple, home run, four RBI and three runs scored, Manninen homered and notched four RBI in a doubleheader sweep of L’Anse.
Yzaguirre tossed a pair of no-hitters, keying Evangelical Christian to a 2024 Class 2A state championship. In the semifinal win over Academy at the Lakes, the senior hurler walked the leadoff batter and set down the final 21 batters, 12 via a strikeout. Yzaguirre followed up with an 11-strikeout performance in the title game versus University Christian, a 1-0 walk-off victory.
Grandgeorge helped Beckville to a 2A Region III title and a trip to the University Interscholastic League state tournament. In three games against Crossville, she hit .692 (9-for-13) with two doubles, two home runs and 10 RBI. In the circle, Grandgeorge went 2-1 with a 1.84 ERA and 14 strikeouts. Rebounding from a game-one defeat, Grandgeorge went a combined 7-for-9 with two doubles, two long balls and nine RBI in a pair of big wins. She also twirled a three-hitter in the first victory with seven strikeouts and one walk.
Anthony was a perfect 10-for-10 and reached base safely in all 13 plate appearances. She doubled and homered twice, scored 13 runs, drove in four more and slugged 1.800. Anthony, a senior, recorded a season-high four hits with a home run, two RBI and three runs scored in game one of a doubleheader versus Colony. She scored four more times in game two. Anthony also launched a round tripper, drove in two runs, walked twice and scored three times against Hutchison.
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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