Congratulations to Fairfield rising senior Madison Jones for winning the 2026 South Bend Tribune High School Softball Player of the Year poll. The Falcons’ standout compiled 7,405 of the 15,928 total votes, or 46.49% of the poll.
Payton Thomas, a senior from John Glenn, finished in second with 4,225 votes, or 26.53% of the poll.
The nominees featured plenty of star power with Penn High School standout Logan Rumble leading the way. The senior outfielder and Northwestern University commit led Penn to Class 4A sectional and regional titles. Rumble set program records for both single-season and career home runs.
The list also included junior star shortstop Ava Walker of Class 4A sectional champion Elkhart, along with John Glenn senior slugger Payton Thomas. Thomas led her team to the program’s first-ever Class 3A regional championship.
Here is the list of nominees for our Tribune Softball Player of the Year in alphabetical order by school.
Eliana Grubbs, Bremen: The senior shortstop led the Lions in batting average (.552), runs (29), hits (48), doubles (16) and stolen bases (12), while also adding 20 RBI, two home runs and a triple.
Ava Walker, Elkhart: The junior shortstop batted .582 with 48 runs scored and 44 RBI. She also had seven doubles and seven triples to go with 23 stolen bases and an OPS of 1.472.
Bailey Harris-Rogers, Elkhart: The senior catcher hit .430 with 34 RBI and an OPS of 1.072.
Madison Jones, Fairfield: The junior second baseman led the Falcons in batting average (.609), runs (53), hits (56), RBI (58), doubles (14), home runs (14), triples (3) and stolen bases (19).
Claire Carlson, Jimtown: The sophomore batted .310 with 23 RBI and also went 12-6 with 166 strikeouts in 119⅔ innings in the circle.
Payton Thomas, John Glenn: The senior first baseman hit .462 with 13 homers and 50 RBI and an OPS of 1.477.
Shayla Sorg, La Porte: The junior hit .485 with 30 runs scored to go with five homers and 39 RBI.
Karmen Frazier, Mishawaka: The senior slugged nine homers with a .380 batting average to go with 39 RBI and an OPS of 1.127.
Khloe Hershey, Mishawaka: The senior, despite missing several games due to a season-ending injury, batted .492 with eight doubles and 19 RBI.
Payton Sears, NorthWood: The junior hit .459 with four homers, 31 RBI and an OPS of 1.300.
Caitlyn Denny, Penn: The senior pitcher was 16-2 with a 1.67 ERA with 21 earned runs allowed in 93⅓ innings with 110 strikeouts.
Logan Rumble, Penn: The senior outfielder batted .474 with 46 runs scored and 50 RBI. She also had 15 doubles and 11 homers with an OPS of 1.576.
Julia McNellis, South Bend Adams: The junior batted .493 with 25 runs scored and seven doubles with an OPS of 1.296.
Dellancy Jenkins, South Bend Riley: The sophomore led the Wildcats in batting average (.542), hits (45), RBI (42), home runs (4), triples (3) and OPS (1.498).
Elliana Gonzales, South Bend Riley: The senior hit .417 with 22 RBI and was also 7-10 as a pitcher with 143 strikeouts in 102 innings.
Bella Esquibel, South Bend Saint Joseph: The junior hit .438 with four homers and 42 RBI and was also 9-4 as a pitcher with a 1.45 ERA.
Kiley Weinberg, South Bend Saint Joseph: The senior hit .515 with 42 runs, four doubles and two homers with 30 stolen bases and an OPS of 1.188.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Madison Jones wins South Bend Tribune Softball Player of the Year poll
Reporting by Scott Davidson, South Bend Tribune / South Bend Tribune
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Scott Davidson, South Bend Tribune | USA TODAY Network
