USA Softball has officially unveiled the Top 50 Watch List for the 2023 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year. With its sights set on the highly anticipated NCAA collegiate softball season, the prestigious award will seek to recognize a collegiate player of the year based on outstanding play during the entire NCAA Division I collegiate softball season.
Jordy Bahl, Oklahoma P. sophomore
Mac Barbara, San Diego State INF/C/DP Redshirt Sophomore
Addison Barnard, Wichita State OF Junior
Rachel Becker, Oklahoma State INF graduate student
Maya Brady, UCLA UTL Junior Red Tee
Ciara Briggs, LSU’s Junior
Valerie Cagle, Clemson P/UTL Junior
Jada Cody, UCF UTL Junior
Erin Coffel, Kentucky INF Junior
Jayda Coleman, Oklahoma OF Junior
Chenise Delce, Arkansas P Redshirt Senior
Charla Echols, INF graduate student from Florida
Kendra Falby, Florida sophomore
Megan Faraimo, UCLA P Redshirt Senior
Kristina Foreman, INF Arkansas graduate student
Montana Fouts, Alabama P Graduate student
Hannah Gammill, Arkansas UTL Junior
Karina Gaskins, Notre Dame INF Junior
Frankie Hammoude, Oregon State INF elder
Kinzie Hansen, Oklahoma C Elder
Faith Hensley, Alabama OF Graduate student
Tiare Jennings, Oklahoma INF Junior
Jayda Kearney, Georgia OF Junior
Baylee Klingler, Washington INF fifth year
Kayla Kowalik, Kentucky C Redshirt Senior
Jenna Laird, INF junior from Missouri
Haley Lee, redshirt Oklahoma C/UTL senior
Emma Lemley, Virginia Tech P Sophomore
Mack Leonard, Florida State P/INF graduate student
Oklahoma senior INF redshirt Grace Lyons
Kelly Maxwell, Oklahoma State P Redshirt Senior
Sydney McKinney, Wichita State INF Senior
Kiki Milloy, Tennessee OF Senior
Sara Mosley, Georgia INF Senior
Jessica Mullins, Texas State P Junior
Sharlize Palacios, UCLA C Junior red jersey
Maddie Penta, Auburn P Junior
Taylor Pleasants, LSU INF graduate student
Emma Ritter, Virginia Tech OF Junior
Ashley Rogers, a graduate student of Tennessee P
Jordyn Rudd, a Northwestern C graduate student
Kathryn Sandercock, Florida State P Redshirt Senior
Cydney Sanders, Oklahoma INF sophomore
Mia Scott, INF sophomore from Texas
Carlie Scupin, INF junior from Arizona
Karli Spaid, Junior of the INF of Miami (OH).
Alex Storako, Oklahoma P Redshirt Senior
Alana Vawter, Stanford P Sr
Skylar Wallace Florida Junior INF Red Tee
Danielle Williams, a graduate student at Northwestern P
The Top 50 Watch List highlights athletes from 26 colleges and nine athletic conferences from across the country with Oklahoma leading colleges in recognition while eight Sooners join the list followed by Arkansas, Florida and UCLA with three athletes each. In addition, ten universities have two athletes on the list while 12 collegiate programs are highlighted with one. Among the 50 athletes and returning to the spotlight for the prestigious award are 2022 Top 3 finalist Baylee Klingler (Washington) and 2022 Top 10 finalists Jordy Bahl (Oklahoma), Grace Lyons (Oklahoma), Kelly Maxwell (Oklahoma State ), Sydney McKinney (Wichita State), and Danielle Williams (Northwestern).
The Southeastern Conference (SEC) leads the athletic conferences with 18 athletes included, followed by the Big 12 Conference with 11, Pac-12 Conference with seven, and the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) with six. The American Athletic Conference (AAC) is also represented with three athletes and the Big Ten Conference with two, while the Mid-American Conference, Mountain West Conference, and Sun Belt Conference each feature one athlete each.
Mark your calendars for more USA Softball Collegiate of the Year announcements:
Top 25 Finalists: April 19 (Although an athlete does not have to be on the “Watch List” to be considered for the Top 25, the eventual USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year will come from the Top 25 Finalists.)
Top 10 Finalists: May 3
Top 3 Finalists: May 17th
Player of the Year: Announced prior to the NCAA Women’s College World Series
Recognized as the most distinguished individual honoree in NCAA Division I Softball, previous recipients of the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Award include Stacey Nuveman (UCLA – 2002), Cat Osterman (2003, 2005, 2006 – Texas), Jessica Van der Linden (Florida State – 2004), Monica Abbott (2007 – Tennessee), Angela Tincher (2008 – Virginia Tech), Danielle Lawrie (2009, 2010 – Washington), Ashley Hansen (Stanford – 2011), Keilani Ricketts (2012, 2013 – Oklahoma), Lacey Waldrop (2014 – State of Florida), Lauren Haeger (2015 – Florida), Sierra Romero (2016 – Michigan), Kelly Barnhill (2017 – Florida), Rachel Garcia (2018, 2019 – UCLA) and Jocelyn Alo ( 2021, 2022 – Oklahoma). Due to the shortened 2020 season due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, a recipient has not been chosen for 2020.
