Meet 20 freshman high school softball stars who broke out in 2022-23

With the spring high school softball season nearing the finish line, SBLive Sports set out to identify some of the brightest emerging stars at the plate and in the circle.

The Class of 2026 is loaded with talent, with some players already having been major varsity contributors as middle-schoolers.

Vote now: Which was the best high school girls sports play in the country April 28-May 4?

Vote now: Which was the best high school boys sports play in the country April 28-May 4?

Here are 20 of the top freshmen in high school softball in 2022-23, including players who finished their season in the fall. 

Anabela Abdullah, Doral Academy (Florida)

Already in her third year playing varsity softball, Abdullah hit .434 as a seventh-grader, .305 as an eighth-grader and is up to .458 as a freshman. She has four home runs and nine doubles.

Mia Clemmer, Coahoma (Texas)

Clemmer has been one of the best power hitters in the nation regardless of class, slugging 20 homers, 14 doubles and driving in 60 runs this season. She's hitting .633 with a .702 on-base percentage.

Ellie Cox, Wicksburg (Alabama)

Like Anabela Abdullah, it seems almost unfair to call Cox a freshman since she's been starting and thriving at the varsity level since seventh grade. She's 20-5 this season with a 1.69 ERA and 215 strikeouts in 116 innings and already has over 600 strikeouts in her career.

Brynley Erb, Western (Indiana)

Erb has three more seasons to break her own school home run record, which she set this year with 14. She's hitting .697 with 58 RBIs and can also run, stealing 16 bases and legging out six triples.

Ava Hodo, Orange Beach (Alabama)

Hodo starred on varsity as an eighth-grader, so she isn't sneaking up on anybody as a freshman. She has 19 home runs this season after hitting 18 last year, so the national (75) and state (72) records for career home runs look well within her reach.

Katie King, Wayne Christian (North Carolina)

King helped Wayne Christian win a state championship as an eighth-grader and has played like a veteran as a freshman. The speedster is hitting .464 with seven doubles, seven triples and 20 stolen bases.

Maggie Krause, Northview (Indiana)

Krause has been a strikeout machine this season, whiffing 207 batters in 110.1 innings. She's had double-digit strikeouts 11 times and is among the state leaders in that category as a freshman.

Ava Lorenzatti, Beecher (Illinois)

It took over a month for Lorenzatti to give up the first run of her high school career, and she hasn't given up many since then either. She holds a 0.70 ERA with 182 strikeouts in 80.1 innings.

Malaya Majam-Finch, Fullerton (California)

The niece of one of the best softball players of all time, Jennie Finch, Majam-Finch is a two-way star who's been at her best in the playoffs. She hasn't given up a run through three rounds of the CIF-Southern Section playoffs, and at the plate she's hitting .485 this season.

Lilly Mann, Sabino (Arizona)

Mann has been a powerful presence in Sabino's lineup as the Sabercats inch closer to their goal of repeating as state champions. She boasts a .543 batting average with 14 home runs and 11 doubles.

Reagan Rohrlich, The Woodlands Christian Academy (Texas)

Rohrlich was among the toughest outs in the country as a freshman, going 7-for-10 in the playoffs after hitting .744 with a .783 on-base percentage in the regular season. She stole 28 bases and didn't strike out once.

Sophia Santinelli, Episcopal Academy (Pennsylvania)

Santinelli has flexed her muscles as a freshman, recently slugging her 10th home run of the season. In a 12-2 win earlier this month she went 4-for-4 with two homers, two doubles and nine RBIs.

Jada Savage, East Coweta (Georgia)

Savage was an imposing power pitcher as a freshman, leading her team to a Class 7A runner-up finish after going 18-3 with a 1.25 ERA and 213 strikeouts in 128.2 innings.

Bailee Shelton, McNairy Central (Tennessee)

Shelton leads her team with a .468 batting average and eight doubles, and has gone deep four times. She's also been her team's best pitcher, going 13-4 with three shutouts.

Caroline Stanton, Buford (Georgia)

Stanton starred in the fall at the plate and in the circle for Buford. She hit .425 with 14 home runs and 37 RBIs and went 11-0 with a 0.79 ERA. Two of those home runs came in one game to dead center over Buford's 20-foot-tall fence.

Thea Staten, Bryan (Ohio)

Staten has been no slouch at the plate, hitting .472 with 20 doubles through 20 games, but she's been especially dominant in the circle. She's a perfect 19-0 with a 0.59 ERA, striking out 237 batters in 131 innings.

Brielle Texada, Alexandria (Louisiana)

Texada hit six homers in a week earlier this season, and she wasn't a one-week wonder. She finished with 16 on the season while hitting .427 with 54 RBIs.

Karmen Vazquez, Hanford West (California)

Vazquez is drawing major colleges' attention from all over the country with her advanced skills with the bat. She's hitting .613 with a .667 on-base percentage and making scouts drool with her bat speed.

Nevaeh Williams, Montverde Academy (Florida)

Another freshman star who played varsity softball as an eighth-grader, Williams has shifted her focus to pitching this season, and it's paid off. She's gone 11-1 with a 0.95 ERA.

McKenna Woliczko, Archbishop Mitty (California)

The 6-foot-2 all-state basketball player who's already piling up major-college offers might be even better at softball. Through 17 games she was batting .500 (29-of-58) with 20 RBIs and 20 runs, all team bests, along with two home runs.