2025 All-Prep Softball First-Team All-Americans

The high school softball season is winding down in most states, and top players from all over the country have made names for themselves with breakout performances.   From speedy slappers to powerful sluggers to flamethrowers in the pitcher's circle, all nine of these 2025 All-Prep Softball First-Team All-Americans are top contributors to their high school teams and are sure to make an impact at the college level when the time comes.    Hannah DeMarcus may be just a sophomore, but her numbers show she is ready for college softball already. In 162 innings pitched this spring, she is 22-2 with an ERA of 0.30 and a whopping 393 strikeouts—more than 2.4 per inning—against just 31 walks. Opponents are batting a mere .062 against DeMarcus, who has nine no-hitters this season, including two perfect games. Her arsenal includes a fastball, changeup, rise ball, drop ball and curveball, all of which are plus pitches for her and can make batters look silly. Unsurprisingly, the mail has been pouring in from top college programs, and DeMarcus has attended camps at Georgia, Florida, Ole Miss, Florida State and LSU.     An Arkansas commit, Ava Hodo has played varsity softball since seventh grade, and she has gotten better every year. As a junior, she is hitting .571 with 15 home runs, 15 doubles, 28 walks and just two strikeouts for a 1.634 OPS. Hodo was the Alabama Sports Writers Association Player of the Year in 2024 and has only continued to elevate her game since then. And she is just as good behind the dish as she is at it. Hodo puts herself in the optimal position to receive throws to the plate and make the tag while avoiding obstruction, and she also has a quick pop time and a strong, accurate arm. Her long swing allows her bat to stay in the zone and generate both pull-side and opposite-field power. Courtney Deifel and the Razorbacks are getting a good one.     Emma Willers will venture far away from her home state of Texas to attend UConn, and it's safe to say the Huskies have a future star on their hands. Coming from the talent-rich Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, Willers is batting .796 in her senior season with 11 doubles and 11 homers through 22 games. She has walked 27 times and struck out just twice, with her OPS sitting at an almost-unfathomable 2.760. Willers also has 14 stolen bases and isn't bad in the circle, either, with a 2.78 ERA in 40 1/3 innings pitched. A tall, powerful left-handed bat, Willers has a smooth, easy stroke and uses her strength to send the ball over the fence to all parts of the field.     Halle Bailey, committed to Tennessee, will stay close to home for college and is in the midst of a stellar senior year. A left-handed hitter who can bunt, slap and hit away, Bailey has stolen 56 bases in 40 games in her final high school season and is hitting .686 with 73 runs scored, 10 doubles and three triples. She has walked four times as often as she's struck out and is adept at placing the ball between the infielders, hitting line drives past them when they overplay the slap. The daughter of a former Volunteers standout who led all NCAA Division I players in batting average in 2006, Bailey is following in her mother's footsteps, and nobody should be surprised to see her in the leadoff spot under Karen Weekly in the near future.     Anaya Romero has all the makings of a future mid-major standout, having committed to Utah State last fall. From the Phoenix area, a region that has always produced plenty of top-level talent, Romero has broken out as a junior with a .753 average and 48 extra-base hits, including 25 home runs, in 29 games. She has drawn 22 walks with only two strikeouts and has a 2.897 OPS. Romero has a quick, explosive swing from the left side and even has the ability to slap and bunt in addition to her immense power. The scariest part for high school teams across Arizona? She still has one more year before taking her talents to the Mountain West Conference.     A junior committed to Missouri, Audrey Cathey is a complete five-tool player who can play all over the infield, though third base is her most natural spot. In 34 games this spring, she batted .495 with 48 runs scored, 15 doubles, nine triples and six homers to go along with 10 stolen bases. Her bat speed is her standout offensive quality, while on defense, she is adept at charging in to field bunts and slap hits as well as reacting quickly to reach hard-hit balls on her backhand side. With a quiet stance that belies the power within, Cathey can spray the ball all over the field, and has another year to keep developing her game before testing herself in the SEC.     Prep Softball's No. 1 ranked recruit for the class of 2025, the Oklahoma commit can do a little bit of everything in the batter's box. Coming out of Southern California, home to a greater concentration of elite softball players than just about anywhere, Kai Minor is hitting .500 as a senior with 35 runs scored and 34 RBI in 28 games. She has hit 17 doubles and five homers with just two strikeouts, and she is also excellent on the basepaths and in the field. Her quick first step allows her to take efficient routes to fly balls, and she also has the raw strength to leap over the fence to take away home runs. Minor is among the latest in a long line of blue-chip recruits who have fueled Patty Gasso's dynasty in Norman.     Jaiden Griffith has signed with a Virginia program that has been on the rise in recent years. She is posting a .659 average, 48 runs scored and 20 extra-base hits in 24 games as a senior, and she is also a maniac on the basepaths with 31 steals. Her raw power from the left side is unmistakable, but so is her ability to spray line drives to all fields and slap hit or lay down a bunt when appropriate. Her speed helps her stretch singles into doubles and doubles into triples, and is also an asset in the outfield, to go along with an arm that can make the long throw to gun down runners at third base from right field. Griffith is a multi-sport athlete, also competing in basketball, track and field, cross country and cheerleading.     A Texas A&M commit, Milan Torres turned up the power in a huge way during her junior season. After hitting just three home runs combined as a freshman and sophomore, Torres broke a Gwinnett County record with 17 long balls, while putting up a .610 average, stealing 24 bases, walking 22 times and striking out just four times for a 1.917 OPS. A lefty both at the plate and in the field, Torres has just as much power to center field and the opposite side as she does pulling the ball. High school pitchers have to worry about facing Torres for one more year before she joins the Aggies.

The high school softball season is winding down in most states, and top players from all over the country have made names for themselves with breakout performances.