INDIANAPOLIS – A few teams were able to escape the cold chill and make their spring debut as Great Midwest Athletic Conference Softball Players of the Week officially started on Tuesday morning.
 
It was league preseason coaches poll favorite No. 10 Trevecca Nazarene, Kentucky Wesleyan and Ursuline, all getting their first games in. Ursuline went to St. Augustine, Fla., while TNU and KWC, headed to Huntsville, Ala.
 
A number of other programs are slated to start their season this week including Tiffin, Cedarville and Findlay.
 
Player of the Week
MaKray Odom
Trevecca Nazarene
Shortstop
Senior
Dickson, TN (Dickson County HS)
 
A consensus Division II All-American and two-time conference player of the year, Odom is off to a blistering start for the Trojans from her traditional leadoff spot in the batting order.
 
The senior batted .615, producing eight hits, four runs, three RBI and a couple of stolen bases in the Trojans’ first four games of the season, which included games vs. No. 6 Young Harris and No. 20 Alabama-Huntsville.
 
In her 2021 debut vs. Delta State, Odom was 4-for-4 with a double and a stolen base. She scored following a Brooke Eakes triple in the first inning and plated another run with a run-scoring double in the sixth.
 
She had one hit and two runs scored against Alabama-Huntsville, also on Friday. She was perfect against the dish vs. No. 6 Young Harris with a 3-for-3 line. Odom had a two-run double in the second inning that brought the Trojans down 5-3.
 
Odom was actually batting north of .800 on the week before an 0-3 outing vs. Harding to close out the weekend.
 
Odom’s name is already top of the league leaders in batting average, slugging percentage, on base percentage, hits, RBI, doubles and runs.
 
Pitcher of the Week
Evyn Hendrickson
Kentucky Wesleyan
RHP
Senior
Morganfield, KY (Union County HS)
 
Hendrickson was responsible for sealing and delivering the first win of the spring for the conference as Kentucky Wesleyan blanked Lincoln (Mo.).
 
The senior was simply masterful as she dialed up a complete game shutout with 12 strikeouts in a game that looked like it could go to extras.
 
The Panthers pushed across a run for the walkoff victory in the seventh inning. Hendrickson allowed just five hits and issued four walks.
 
The 12 strikeouts for Hendrickson is the most in the Great Midwest for a single game since Ursuline’s Brookly Miller fanned 13 in April of 2019.
 
Hendrickson went the distance in six games during the shortened 2020 season. She was just shy of matching her career-high strikeout total of 13 vs. McKendree in Feb. of 2018.