Top 2027 Prospects To Watch In Massachusetts

Its climate may not be suited to playing softball outdoors for much of the year, but from the Boston area to the Connecticut River valley to Cape Cod and the islands, Massachusetts has no shortage of promising young players looking to continue their softball journeys at the college level.   Below, Prep Softball highlights five of the top class of 2027 recruits from Massachusetts.    Edy Latour burst onto the Massachusetts high school scene with a stellar two-way season as a freshman. The southpaw pitched to a 13-3 record and a 1.36 ERA in 118 innings, holding her opponents to a .199 batting average. Her season also included three no-hitters. She batted .429 in 22 games with a 1.211 OPS, six doubles and three home runs for a team that finished 24-3 and won the MIAA Division 3 state title. Latour spins the ball well with sharp horizontal and vertical movement on her pitches and also does a good job mixing speeds. She also has a quick bat and a compact swing that stays in the zone and allows her to drive the ball with gap-to-gap power.     Ava McLeod has started at the varsity level since she was in seventh grade, and as a ninth grader in 2024, she was 15-3 as a pitcher with a 1.77 ERA and 144 strikeouts in 134 1/3 innings. She also put up a .465 batting average and a .718 slugging percentage with nine doubles, three triples and a home run in 21 games. McLeod allowed just one run in a complete-game win and hit a two-run double to help her team reach its first-ever state semifinal. She is also a strong defender at shortstop with quick instincts, solid range and an accurate arm.     Amaya Alger batted .422 with a 1.122 OPS as a high school freshman, scoring 29 runs and driving in 23 in 22 games. She finished the season with five doubles and a triple while walking more than she struck out. Alger also finished with 11 stolen bases. Her hitting was as consistent as it gets, with three four-hit games on the year and an eight-game hitting streak early in the season. Alger did not hit for much power, but there is still plenty of time for that tool to develop. She can play multiple positions, pitching occasionally while spending most of her time in center field.     In 2024, Katherine Pratt was the only rising sophomore on her 18U club team, and given her freshman year numbers for her high school team, it's easy to see why. She had 29 RBI and 28 runs scored in just 19 games while batting .470 with 10 doubles and a 1.245 OPS. Pratt also had a perfect fielding percentage while playing third base and first base in addition to pitching. She pitched just 14 innings, all in blowout wins, but allowed just one unearned run on three hits with 34 strikeouts against just three walks. Pratt was named First-Team All-South Worcester County League while also excelling in the shot put in indoor track and field.     Avery Soares hit .394 with a .996 OPS as a high school freshman, driving in 27 runs in 24 games while making just one error in the field and succeeding on all six of her stolen base attempts for a team that finished 21-3 overall and a perfect 15-0 in league play. She walked eight times with just three strikeouts in 79 plate appearances, and was selected as an all-star by the Attleboro Sun Chronicle. The highlight of Soares' season was a three-hit, six-RBI day against Northbridge in mid-May. Her swing is well-engineered to lift the ball to the pull side, and she has a strong and accurate arm behind the plate.

Its climate may not be suited to playing softball outdoors for much of the year, but from the Boston area to the Connecticut River valley to Cape Cod and the islands, Massachusetts has no shortage of promising young players looking to continue their softball journeys at the college level.