Wednesday was a busy day at the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) as three separate announcements recognized outstanding players at the Division 1 collegiate level.

The trio of awards including Pitcher of the Year, Player of the Year, Gold Glove recipients and All-Americans… scroll down to read more about all of these 2025 season honorees…

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Canady Repeats as NFCA Pitcher of the Year; Bahl Tapped Player of the Year

Texas Tech’s NiJaree Canady repeated as the NFCA Pitcher of the Year and Nebraska’s Jordy Bahl was voted NFCA Player of the Year, the Association revealed on Wednesday at the Women’s College World Series (WCWS) press conference in Oklahoma City.

Canady and Bahl are representing their programs for the first time with these plaudits.

Canady, a unanimous first-team All-American for the second straight season, continued to dominate during her junior campaign and first season with the Red Raiders. She becomes the first student-athlete to repeat as pitcher of the year… note:  UCLA’s Rachel Garcia won award three consecutive seasons – Player in 2018 and 2021, along with Pitcher in 2019. No award was presented in 2020.

Canady’s prowess in the circle has keyed Texas Tech to its first trip to the WCWS and her third appearance in Oklahoma City. Boasting a 30-5 overall record and 0.89 ERA, both tops in NCAA Division I, the Big 12 Player of the Year has struck out 279 batters, walked only 41 and held her opposition to a NCAA DI-low .153 batting average in 205 innings of work.

Canady, an USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year finalist also tops Division I by allowing just 3.65 hits per seven innings, ranks fourth in strikeouts to walk ratio (6.80), sixth in strikeouts and eighth in strikeouts per seven innings (9.5). She has complimented herself at the plate, batting .312 with team-best 11 home runs to go along with 34 RBI and a 1.174 OPS.

Excelling both at the plate and in the circle, Bahl made a commanding return to the field following a season-ending injury in 2024. In doing so, the unanimous Joan Joyce Utility/Pitcher First-Team NFCA All-American was pivotal in Nebraska’s run to the Super Regionals as an unseeded team in 2025.

As the first player to be named Big Ten Player and Pitcher of the Year, Bahl is the first Husker in program history to record 15 doubles and 15 home runs in the same season and just the fifth Division I player all-time to register 20 wins and 20 home runs in a season.

Bahl (26-8, 1.56 ERA, 286 K, .156 opp. BA / .462, 16 2B, 23 HR, 66 RBI, 72 R, .555 OBP, .988 SLG) ranks in the top 10 nationally in runs per game (4^th), slugging percentage (6^th), batting average (6^th), home runs (t-7^th) and home runs per game (9^th). The USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year finalist also ranks in the top 10 nationally in the following pitching categories: opponent batting average (3^rd), hits allowed per seven innings (3^rd), shutouts (4^th), complete games (5^th), wins (t-5^th), strikeouts per seven innings (6^th) and ERA (8^th).

The Player of the Year award was created to honor the outstanding athletic achievements among softball student-athletes. In 2019, the Association expanded the award to include a Player and Pitcher of the Year. 

The awards are voted on by the selected members of the NFCA Division I All-American Committee with one head coach representing each of the NFCA’s 10 regions. To be eligible, a student-athlete’s head coach must be a member and athletes must also be first-team All-Americans.

Player & Pitcher of the Year Winners

• 2025 – Jordy Bahl, Nebraska (Player) / NiJaree Canady, Texas Tech (Pitcher)
• 2024 – Jocelyn Erickson, Florida (Player) / NiJaree Canady, Stanford (Pitcher)
• 2023 – Skylar Wallace, Florida (Player) / Ashley Rogers, Tennessee (Pitcher)
• 2022 – Jocelyn Alo, Oklahoma (Player) / Georgina Corrick, USF (Pitcher)
• 2021 – Rachel Garcia, UCLA (Player) / Montana Fouts, Alabama (Pitcher)
• 2019 – Abbey Cheek, Kentucky (Player) / Rachel Garcia, UCLA (Pitcher)
• 2018 – Rachel Garcia, UCLA
• 2017 – Megan Good, James Madison University
• 2016 – Sierra Romero, Michigan

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NFCA Reveals 2025 NCAA DI Rawlings Gold Glove Awards

Rawlings Sporting Goods Company, Inc. revealed the nine recipients of the 2025 NCAA Division I Rawlings Gold Glove Award®, presented by the NFCA, on Wednesday during a press conference at the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City.

A pair of repeat winners, just the second and third in the award’s history, from the University of Florida highlight this year’s squad.

Gator teammates Jocelyn Erickson and Kendra Falby earned the honor for the second straight season at catcher and center field, respectively. Falby also earned second-team NFCA All-America status.

Florida is the lone program with multiple honors as eight Division I teams were represented in 2025. Erickson and Falby bring the Gators’ all-time total to five.

Along with Falby, University of Arizona pitcher Devyn Netz (2^nd team) and Liberty outfielder Rachel Roupe (3^rd team) earned Gold Glove and All-America honors. Netz is the third straight Wildcat to achieve Gold Glove recognition joining Dakota Kennedy (left field – 2023) and Allie Skaggs (second base – 2022).

The remaining Gold Glove infielders are University of South Carolina’s Arianna Rodi at first base, University of Oklahoma’s Ailana Agbayani at second base, Oklahoma State University third baseman Tallen Edwards and Texas A&M shortstop Koko Wooley.

Agbayani joins 2023 shortstop recipient Grace Lyons as the second Gold Glove Sooner, while Rodi, Edwards and Wooley are the first in their program’s annals.

Flanking Falby in the outfield are a pair of Conference USA student-athletes in Louisiana Tech’s Elena Heng in left field and Liberty’s Roupe in right field. They are the first Gold Glove honorees in the programs and the conference.

Erickson and Falby, along with Agbayani are representing their respective programs at the 2025 Women’s College World Series.

Recipients of the Rawlings Gold Glove Award, presented by the NFCA, were selected by the NFCA’s NCAA Division I All-America Committee, following regional voting to identify the finalists at each position.

The group utilized fielding statistics and school-submitted video to closely examine finalists and select the winners at every defensive position. Any student-athlete that competed in the current championship year and was nominated by their head coach who is a member in good standing with the NFCA was eligible for consideration for this prestigious accolade. View procedures HERE.

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2025 NFCA Division I All-America Teams Revealed

Fifty-four student-athletes from 33 different institutions have been voted to one of three 2025 NFCA Division I All-America teams, the Association announced on Wednesday afternoon during its annual press conference at the Women’s College World Series (WCWS).

Two programs headed into the WCWS – Oklahoma and UCLA – topped the charts with four NFCA All-Americans, including two each on the first team. Three other WCWS participants – Florida, Oregon and Texas – each had three All-Americans, while Tennessee collected two and first-timer Texas Tech had one.

Arizona was the fourth program with a trio of All-Americans, with Florida State, Indiana, LSU, Stanford, Texas A&M and Arkansas earning two apiece.

In the battle for the all-time lead in NFCA All-Americans, UCLA and Arizona are now tied at 114 apiece. Oklahoma brought its total to 90.

Twenty other programs had one student-athlete recognized. Of those 20, Belmont pitcher Maya Johnson (1^st team at-large), Coastal Carolina first baseman Georgia Hood (3^rd team) and Liberty outfielder Rachel Roupe (3^rd team at-large) are representing their programs as first-time NFCA All-Americans.

With her unanimous Joan Joyce first-team Utility/Pitcher selection, Nebraska’s Jordy Bahl is now a three-time first-team All-American this year. She earned first-team pitching honors in 2022 and 2023 (at-large) as a member of the Oklahoma Sooners.

Also earning a third All-America honor is Baylor first baseman Shaylon Govan. Govan added a third-team at-large nod this year to her first and second-team selections in 2024 and 2023, respectively.

Joining Bahl as unanimous first-team selections were Texas Tech pitcher NiJaree Canady, Texas catcher Reese Atwood, Arkansas first baseman Bri Ellis, Clemson second baseman Maddie Moore, UCLA third baseman Jordan Woolery, Florida State shortstop Isa Torres and Virginia Tech outfielder Cori McMillan.

It is the second consecutive plaudit for Canady, Atwood, Ellis, Moore, Woolery and McMillan and the first honor for Torres. Canady and Atwood, along with Tennessee pitcher Karlyn Pickens collected first-team plaudits for the second straight season.

In addition to the previously mentioned repeat All-Americans on the first team, Arizona outfielder Dakota Kennedy (3^rd team), Oklahoma DP or Utility/Non-Pitcher Ella Parker (1^st team) are All-Americans for the second straight season.

Six more earned their second honor, just not in consecutive seasons – Texas A&M DP or Utility/Non-Pitcher Mac Barbara (2^nd team), Indiana utility pitcher Brianna Copeland (3^rd team), UCLA first baseman Megan Grant (1^st-team at-large), Oklahoma State pitcher Ruby Meylan (2^nd team), Indiana outfielder Taylor Minnick (1^st team) and UCLA third baseman Jordan Woolery (1^st team).

Taking home the 2025 Diamond Sports/NFCA Catcher of the Year with her unanimous first-team selection is Atwood. A junior from Sandia, Texas, Atwood is the first Longhorn with 20 or more home runs in back-to-back seasons, leading Texas with 21 long balls.

She currently ranks third in Division I with 85 RBI, which is five shy of tying her own program single-season RBI (90) record set just last season. She is also batting .416 with 12 doubles, 40 walks, a .532 on-base percentage and .884 slugging percentage.

Capturing the 2025 New Balance/NFCA Golden Shoe Award is Oregon’s Kai Luschar. The redshirt senior outfielder leads NCAA Division I with 59 stolen bases in 67 attempts and ranks second at .97 per game. Luschar, a NFCA All-Mountain Region second teamer, leads the Ducks with 82 hits, 63 runs scored, 35 walks and a .517 on-base percentage.

Seven of the eight programs participating in the WCWS have at least one All-American and a total of 20 honorees will step on the field at OGE Energy Field at Devon Stadium.