A Look Back at Extra Inning Softball National High School Players of the Week

There is value in looking back over the path you have traveled.

Extra Inning Softball first began recognizing high school players of the week in 2018 and we are revisiting our first-ever selections. And what a group this turned out to be.

Megan Faraimo, Jayda Coleman, Montana Fouts, Ashley Rogers, Danielle Williams and Lexi Kilfoyl all were selected as the National High School Player of the Week in 2018.

We review what they did to earn Extra Inning Softball National High School Player of the Week honors and their careers moving forward.

Enjoy the stroll down memory lane.

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March 11, 2018 – Megan Faraimo, Cathedral Catholic High School
Faraimo earned the first-ever Extra Inning Softball National High School Player of the Week pitching for Cathedral Catholic High School.

What She Did: Playing in the Cougar Classic, Faraimo led Cathedral Catholic to four victories. For the week, she pitched 20 innings with 64 batters faced and recorded 47 strikeouts and allowed only four hits and had an ERA of 0.35. She also went 5-for-11 at the plate for a .455 batting average and one home run.

After Cathedral Catholic: Faraimo went on to a decorated career at UCLA where she helped lead the Bruins to two Women’s College World Series appearances including winning a national championship in 2019. She was named First Team All-Pac-12 four times and was a two-time Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year. She earned three NFCA All-American honors and was also a three-time finalist for USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year. She was a member of the USA Softball national team in both 2019 and 2022.

March 18, 2018 – Deja Westbrook, Arcadia High School
Deja Westbrook earned National High School Player of the Week honors for Arcadia High School.

What She Did: Westbrook, who played club ball for Kimbo Howard’s Corona Angels 16U team, went 8-for-10 on the week in four games and also in her 13 at-bats reached two more times after being hit by the pitcher. Through six games of the 2018 spring season, Westbrook was hitting .706 with six doubles and a triple with an on-base percentage of .773. She also had a slugging percentage of 1.176 and an OPS of 1.949.

After Arcadia High School: She went on to a four-year career at California Baptist where she appeared in 143 games and made 80 starts. She hit .,250 during the 2021 season and had four doubles, two home runs and drove in 11 runs in 2023.

March 25, 2018 – Paige Pfent, Springstead High School
Pfent was named the National High School Player of the Week while competing for Springstead High School.

What She Did: Pfent, a senior catcher for the Springstead Eagles, had a weekend to remember as she reached base 15 straight times over a span of four games. The University of North Florida signee went 10-for-10 with a pair of home runs, two doubles and also reached base by walking four times and being hit by pitch. She helped her team to a 3-1 record with wins over Bloomingdale, Dunedin, Sickles and Sunlake in the Leopard Tournament. In those games the senior went 4-for-4, 2-for-2, 1-for-1 and 3-for-3 and scored eight runs and had seven RBIs.

After Springstead High School: Pfent went on to a four-year career at North Florida in which she started over 150 games. She had an outstanding senior season as she hit .327 with seven homers and 41 RBIs. She was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District Team following her senior season.

April 1, 2018 – Macy Simmons, Hamilton High School
Simmons was named National High School Player of the Week while playing for Hamilton High School which was ranked as the top team in the state of Arizona.

What She Did: Simmons had a fantastic week at the 21st Annual Desert Mountain Tournament as Hamilton went 7-0 and outscored its opponents 81-7 including a 19-0 win over Pinnacle in the title game. Simmons was the star offensively for the Huskies as she hit .625 for the tournament with five home runs and 22 RBIs in the seven wins including a 4-for-4 performance in the championship contest. She helped lead Hamilton to two state championships and a runner-up finish in 2018.

After Hamilton High School: Simmons spent the first two years of her college career at Arizona State before transferring to BYU ahead of the 2022 season. In 2022, she batted .250 with seven homers and 33 RBIs and she redshirted in 2023.

April 8, 2018 – Megan Faraimo, Cathedral Catholic High School
Faraimo earned her second National High School Player of the Week honor for Cathedral Catholic High School.

What She Did: Faraimo picked up her second honor after starring at the Michelle Carew Classic in Anaheim. In the final of the 32-team tournament Saturday night, Faraimo led the Dons to a 2-0 victory over Orange Lutheran, the top-ranked team in Orange County, with a one-hitter and 14 strikeouts to beat the Lancers 2-0. The championship win made it five shutouts in five games for the pitcher in the tournament including a no-hitter. Overall, Faraimo gave up just nine hits with 59 strikeouts in 27 innings for the tournament and if not for a leadoff infield single to start the third by Orange Lutheran, the future Bruins hurler would have had her second no-hitter of the event.

After Cathedral Catholic High School: Faraimo went on to a decorated career at UCLA where she helped lead the Bruins to two Women’s College World Series appearances including winning a national championship in 2019. She was named First Team All-Pac-12 four times and was a two-time Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year. She earned three NFCA All-American honors and was also a three-time finalist for USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year. She was a member of the USA Softball national team in both 2019 and 2022.

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