2025 All-Prep Softball Third-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 Third-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.    Nicknamed "Goose" after her parents called her "silly goose" as a young child, the Northwestern commit has dominated in the circle ever since she stepped foot on her high school campus. Lilly Goodwin has taken it up a notch this year, with a 20-0 record and a 0.36 ERA in 134 2/3 innings pitched with 319 strikeouts and just 18 walks. Among her five no-hitters was a perfect game on March 11, during which she struck out all 21 batters she faced. On May 19, she had 17 strikeouts in a complete-game shutout to lead her team to a state title. The lefthander can spin the ball to both sides of the plate with a curveball and screwball, and she also has an effective rise ball and changeup. Goodwin fields her position well and is also a force at the plate, hitting .552 with 12 doubles, six home runs and 45 RBI in 32 games for a 1.505 OPS.     Another junior from a stacked class of Phoenix-area recruits, Torynn Slaughter is committed to Alabama and batted .459 this spring with 10 homers, 25 walks and just four strikeouts in 26 games. Her defense was nearly perfect, with just two errors all season. Batting from the left side, Slaughter has a quiet stance but has prolific opposite-field power and can crush the ball to the pull side as well. She was a First-Team All-District honoree this year as well. Slaughter was named to the first-ever U.S. U-15 national team and recorded three hits, including a home run, in 10 at-bats to help the team win the WBSC Americas Qualifier in 2023.     Jamie Trachsel's Ole Miss program has been loading up on big-time recruits lately, and the Rebels view Kinley Pittman, an in-state product, as a big part of their future. Pittman hit .435 as a junior with a 1.498 OPS and more than twice as many walks as strikeouts. She did not pitch as much this season as she did as a freshman and an eighth grader, but has a cumulative 2.64 ERA and 270 strikeouts in 180 innings in the circle, preferring to work above the zone with her rise ball. Tall and strong, Pittman does not even need to come all the way around on her swing to generate power to all fields.     It's hard to stand out on a high school team as stacked as Melissa, in north Texas, and yet Caigan Crabtree manages to do just that. The Texas signee is batting .542 with 19 homers, 59 runs scored and 59 RBI in 34 games for a squad that is 37-1 heading into the state championship game. Crabtree also has 18 stolen bases and has made just one error in the field. Longhorns head coach Mike White compared her power to that of current Texas star Reese Atwood, and it is easy to see on film how her long swing leads to explosive results. At 5 feet and 11 inches, Crabtree has no trouble getting her arms extended to drive outside pitches out to the opposite field, and she also has excellent range to both sides at shortstop.     An Oklahoma State commit, Dawson Blue has kept improving every year in high school, raising her batting average from .338 to .456 to .550 through 28 games as a junior. Her power numbers have declined this spring, but she learned to accept more walks, taking 19 of them compared to just seven in 2024, helping lead to 49 runs scored. Blue is also a plus baserunner, with 36 steals this season after she did not run nearly as much last year. Her presence on the basepaths often forces defenses to make mistakes, and she has a knack for coming up big when it matters most, hitting a walk-off home run at PGF Nationals last year. In addition to her baserunning, Blue's biggest strengths are her bat speed and her range in the middle infield.     A high school teammate of Crabtree's, Kennedy Bradley brings even more power to Melissa's infield. The Florida commit is hitting .527 with 24 homers and 67 runs scored, good for a 1.927 OPS, and has just a 5 percent strikeout rate. Bradley has also played error-free defense for her entire junior season after helping lead her team to a state title as a sophomore. She recognizes pitches early and avoids getting too far ahead of off-speed stuff, and she can also reach a rise ball above the zone and drive it over the fence. With Bradley, Crabtree and others capable of going yard at any time, Melissa has shattered the national record for most homers by a team in a single season.     Payton Westra batted above .400 in each of her first two high school seasons, but to say the Oklahoma commit took things to another level this year would be a massive understatement. She had a .755/.826/1.735 triple slash and a 2.561 OPS, both scoring and driving in two or more runs per game. Her power numbers also increased, with a career-best 11 home runs in fewer games than she had previously played, and she walked 19 times while striking out just once. Westra also went her entire junior season without making an error. She is a member of the USA Softball U-18 national team, where she was 8-for-15 with a home run and a double in the 2024 WBSC World Cup.     Molly Southall is a star on the volleyball court and also plays basketball, but the softball field is her ticket to the next level, where she will play at North Carolina State. She burst onto the scene with a .667 batting average and 12 homers in 23 games as a sophomore, and has followed that up by batting .493 in her junior season with nine home runs and 47 RBI as well as 34 walks in 28 games. She also has 15 steals and is an excellent defensive outfielder with a quick first step and good closing speed. A left-handed hitter with a quick bat, Southall has big-time power, but she can also surprise the defense by beating out a well-placed bunt.     Three years in a row with an OPS above 2.000 sounds pretty good. That's what Cece Springfield, an Auburn commit, has done on the high school circuit in Georgia, and she is coming off a junior season in which she hit .604 with eight triples, seven homers and 29 runs scored in 18 games with only three strikeouts. Her speed and defense are strengths as well, with nine stolen bases and just one error. Springfield has also worked significant innings in the circle, and while her ERA and walk rate are suboptimal, she has averaged well over a strikeout per inning in each of her three high school seasons. She has more than proven her readiness for the SEC.

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.