The Best Power Hitters In The 2030 Class Right Now

Nothing can change the complexion of a softball game quite like a home run. From majestic fly balls that clear the fence by several feet to laser beam line drives that carry just beyond the wall, the four-bagger always gets crowds fired up and leaves the opposing dugout deflated.   The class of 2030 may still only be in eighth grade, and power is often the last of the five tools to develop. Still, several superstar sluggers are already flexing their muscles and have the ability to go deep at any time.   Below, Prep Softball highlights five of the best power hitters in the 2030 recruiting class.    Put simply, Berkley Ward can rake. Coming out of the talent-rich Houston area, Ward had a stellar 2024 season with her club team, batting .478 with eight home runs and a 1.072 OPS. She has built on those numbers in 2025, with three homers in one day at the PGF Super Select Championship in March. Even when it looks like she is getting sawed off and hits the ball toward the opposite-field foul line in right, she still has enough strength to hit it out of the yard. At the 16U Hot Corners Elite Showcase in October, Ward had seven hits in nine at-bats, showcasing her power to all fields with extra-base hits in the gaps and down the lines. Primarily a catcher, Ward also plays third base, and she receives the ball well behind the plate. Ward crushes both right-handed and left-handed pitching, and also plays goalkeeper on her middle school soccer team.     It's a toss-up whether Bailee Texada is a better student or softball player. She was named her school's student of the year for 2025-26 and holds a 4.0 GPA, and over the summer, she played at the 14U, 16U and 18U levels and more than held her own. Texada hit .486 with a .558 on-base percentage, putting her power on display and making it look almost effortless. She has a smooth, easy-looking uppercut swing that can make a softball soar like a golf ball. When pitchers try to jam her inside, Texada shortens up her stroke and can punch line drives the other way for extra bases, and she has the speed to leg out those hits into stand-up triples. Texada can also catch the defense off guard by dropping down an occasional bunt for a hit, but her power is nothing short of prodigious, especially for her age. She batted .571 at 16U in Colorado and hit three homers at an 18U tournament in June. On top of all that, Texada is the top-ranked javelin thrower in Louisiana for her age group.     Kyla Paul played varsity softball as a seventh grader, and while her numbers weren't eye-popping, they show that she already belonged at that level, as she got on base more than half the time with an impressive 1.075 OPS in 21 games. Paul's bat speed is immediately apparent — she can send the ball over the fence with barely more than a flick of the wrists. She hunts pitches on the outer half of the strike zone and even slightly off the plate, with her ability to extend her arms and still find the barrel. Paul fields her position exceptionally well behind the plate, leaping out of her crouch to pounce on swinging bunts, then spinning and firing a perfect strike to first base. She is just as good defensively at the corner infield spots, and is an accomplished student as well.     Peyton White is in the midst of an outstanding fall season, batting .500 at the Champions Elite Showcase in early November and .438 at the Ray Seymour Invitational in late October. With an open stance and her feet spread wide apart, White gets her power from her lower body, as she hit two homers — both to dead center field — in her final junior varsity game as an eighth grader. The ball explodes off of White's bat, and she turned heads by hitting .500 with a home run at the 16U level in the Atlanta Legacy Showcase over the summer. White has no trouble catching up to well-located fastballs, and her talents are not confined to the softball field. She earned several medals in discus and shot put last year, and her raw strength is up there with anybody in her class.     Nicknamed "Pip," Paisley Wright is a two-time USA Softball All-American and a two-time participant in the USA Softball High Performance Program. Her swing is mechanically sound, generating ideal exit velocities and launch angles, and she excels both behind and at the plate. Wright batted .571 with five doubles and six runs batted in at the Select vs. Select championship in October. Earlier that month, she played up at 16U and hit .471 with two doubles and a triple at the Top Gun Showcase, spraying the ball all over the field. Her power was on display this past summer at the Colorado Sparkler, highlighted by a grand slam, and her pitch-framing skills are quite advanced for her age. Wright has been busy on the camp circuit, visiting Florida, LSU, Northwestern and Ole Miss.

Nothing can change the complexion of a softball game quite like a home run. From majestic fly balls that clear the fence by several feet to laser beam line drives that carry just beyond the wall, the four-bagger always gets crowds fired up and leaves the opposing dugout deflated.