Top 50 Watch List for 2023 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year

USA Softball has officially released the 2023 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Top 50 Watch List. As the highly anticipated NCAA college softball season approaches, the prestigious award recognizes a collegiate player of the year who has demonstrated outstanding performance throughout the NCAA Division I college softball season.

Jordy Bahl, Oklahoma P sophomore

Mac Barbara, San Diego State INF/C/DP Redshirt sophomore

Addison Barnard, State of Wichita Junior

Rachel Becker, Oklahoma State INF student

Maya Brady, UCLA UTL redshirt junior

Ciara Briggs, LSU OF 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, Florida INF student

Kendra Falby, Florida sophomore

Megan Faraimo, UCLA P redshirt senior

Kristina Foreman, INF student from Arkansas

Montana Fouts, graduate student from Alabama P

Hannah Gammill, UTL junior from Arkansas

Karina Gaskins, Notre Dame INF Junior

Frankie Hammoude, Oregon State INF Senior

Kinzie Hansen, Oklahoma C Senior

Faith Hensley, Alabama of Graduate Student

Tiare Jennings, Oklahoma INF Jr

Jayda Kearney, Georgia OF Junior

Baylee Klingler, Washington INF fifth year

Kayla Kowalik, Kentucky C Redshirt Senior

Jenna Laird, Missouri INF Junior

Haley Lee, Oklahoma C/UTL Red Shirt Senior

Emma Lemley, Virginia Tech P sophomore

Mack Leonard, Florida State P/INF student

Grace Lyons, Oklahoma INF Redshirt Senior

Kelly Maxwell, Oklahoma State Redshirt Senior P

Sydney McKinney, Wichita State INF Senior

Kiki Milloy, Tennessee of Senior

Sara Mosley, INF senior from Georgia

Jessica Mullins, Texas State P Junior

Sharlize Palacios, UCLA C redshirt junior

Maddie Penta, Auburn P Junior

Taylor Pleasants, LSU INF grad student

Emma Ritter, Virginia Tech OF Junior

Ashley Rogers, graduate student at Tennessee P

Jordyn Rudd, a graduate student in the Northwest of the C

Kathryn Sandercock, Florida State redshirt senior

Cydney Sanders, Oklahoma INF sophomore

Mia Scott, Texas INF sophomore

Carlie Scupin, INF junior from Arizona

Karli Spaid, Miami (OH) INF Junior

Alex Storako, redshirt senior from Oklahoma P

Alana Vawter, Stanford P Senior

Skylar Wallace, Fla. INF Red Shirt Junior

Danielle Williams, Northwestern P student

The Top 50 watchlist highlights athletes from 26 universities and nine sports conferences from across the country, with Oklahoma leading the universities in recognition while eight Sooners join the list, followed by Arkansas, Florida and UCLA with three athletes each. Additionally, ten universities have two athletes on the list, while 12 college programs are highlighted with one. Among the 50 athletes returning to the spotlight for the prestigious award are 2022 Top 3 Finalist Baylee Klingler (Washington), as well as 2022 Top 10 Finalists Jordy Bahl (Oklahoma), Grace Lyons (Oklahoma), Kelly Maxwell (Oklahoma State), Sydney McKinney (Wichita State) and Danielle Williams (Northwest).

The Southeastern Conference (SEC) leads the sports conferences with 18 athletes, followed by the Big 12 Conference with 11, the Pac-12 Conference with seven, and the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) with six. Also represented is the American Athletic Conference (AAC) with three athletes and the Big Ten Conference with two, while the Mid-American Conference, Mountain West Conference and Sun Belt Conference each present one athlete.

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 US Softball College Player of the Year is selected by the Top 25 finalists come.)

Top 10 Finalists: May 3rd

Top 3 Finalists: May 17th

Player of the Year: Announced prior to NCAA Women’s College World Series

Recognized as the most significant individual award in NCAA Division I softball, past 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 ( State of Florida – 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 – Florida State), 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, no recipient was selected for 2020.