2027 Stock Risers From The Midwest

There are two things all states in the Midwest have in common. The first is that the weather is always unpredictable. It could be snowing and 30 degrees one day, while 70 degrees and sunny the next. The second is that elite softball talent is prevalent no matter where you go. From Kansas to Indiana to Ohio to Illinois, there are plenty of players shining on the softball field.   Below, Prep Softball highlights five players from the 2027 class who have raised their stock values this high school softball season.    Avery Gries suffered a knee injury before the season opener last year for the Bishop Chatard Trojans, delaying the beginning of her high school career. It's safe to say she has more than made up for any lost time. On the first pitch she saw this season, she blasted a home run, which marked the first hit and long ball of her varsity career. And she has not let up since. At the time of this writing, the sophomore was batting .674 with 29 hits, 24 runs scored, 15 RBIs and nine doubles over 16 games played. She currently leads the Trojans in on-base percentage, slugging percentage and stolen bases. Gries also has plenty of experience in the circle. Earlier this spring, pitching for the Indiana Irish, she was part of a combined no-hitter and has racked up plenty of strikeouts for her travel ball squad. Bishop Chatard could not have asked for a better debut from its rising star.     If you don't know the name Brennen Reichman yet, you will soon. The righthander has been making headlines statewide and nationally for her record-breaking season in the circle this year. With 175 strikeouts so far this season for the Tusky Valley Trojans at the time of this writing, she has already set a new school record for single season strikeouts and has over 300 strikeouts in her career. On April 28th against the Ridgewood Generals, she set yet another school record, striking out 19 Generals in a 9-0 complete-game performance, earning the single-game strikeout record. She's also doing damage at the plate, batting .537 with 29 hits, 17 RBIs and six doubles. Meanwhile, the Trojans got off to their best start in program history with a 15-0 record, outscoring their opponents 128-43. Look for Reichman's stock to continue to soar.     Sophie Monts is simply hitting the cover off the ball this year. In 62 at-bats so far for the Knights in Arthur, IL, Monts has 23 extra-base hits, including a whopping 17 doubles, five home runs, and one triple. She has improved in every offensive metric from her freshman campaign, and her .597 batting average at the time of this writing was good for fifth among all sophomores in the state. Perhaps the biggest jump has been in her on-base percentage. After a more than solid .535 OBP from her freshman year, it has skyrocketed to .648 so far this season. A slugging percentage of .730 from her freshman season is now at 1.145 this year. Monts has also collected four wins in the circle for the Knights, along with 52 strikeouts. She has done everything well on the softball field this season.     If you're a pitcher, good luck trying to get Kaliana Ray out, because it doesn't happen often. The sophomore had a career batting average of .713 at the time of this writing, and it just keeps rising. Through only 17 games played this season, Ray already has 43 hits, 34 runs scored, 20 RBIs and an on-base percentage of .714. And to top it all off, she has only struck out one time. To make matters worse for pitchers, she is also a terror on the base paths with 75 career stolen bases in 76 attempts. Alongside a dominant pitching staff, the two-time defending state champion Falcons are on a good pace to make another deep postseason run, with Ray right in the middle of it.     By all accounts, Zoe Davidson had an incredible freshman year in the circle with a 1.95 ERA, 196 strikeouts, and an opponents' batting average of .180. However, it turns out that was just a warmup for her sophomore year. Pitching for the Dexter Spartans, Davidson has been miraculous in her second go-around this spring. In 13 appearances at the time of this writing, she had an 11-0 record with a 0.57 ERA, 100 strikeouts, and an even lower opponents' batting average of .152. It would be unfair, however, to only mention her pitching statistics. She also leads the Spartans in batting average (.574), on-base percentage (.647), home runs (4), hits (31), RBI (39), slugging percentage (1.093), and triples (4). She also ranks second in stolen bases (21) and runs scored (33). If there is a better example of a 2027 softball player's stock rising, I have not yet found it.

There are two things all states in the Midwest have in common. The first is that the weather is always unpredictable. It could be snowing and 30 degrees one day, while 70 degrees and sunny the next. The second is that elite softball talent is prevalent no matter where you go. From Kansas to Indiana to Ohio to Illinois, there are plenty of players shining on the softball field.