2028s Making Every Summer Tournament Count

Junior year is paramount for a student-athlete's future both in academics and athletics. Recruiters are watching for up-and-coming stars, and that makes this summer perhaps the most important season of all. The players on this list are making sure their names stand out amongst the crowd.   Below, Prep Softball highlights five prospects from the high school class of 2028 who have made every tournament count this summer.    After an explosive spring season at the plate and another productive campaign in the circle, Leah Henderson has continued to impress. At the Colorado Sparkler event in June, Henderson struck out 16 batters over 22 innings for the Las Vegas Blast. Her curve and drop have great tailing action, and her changeup is able to lull hitters to sleep. She also has an effective rise and screwball in her arsenal of tricks. Offensively, she burst onto the scene at the Zoom Into June tournament, during which she had a .538 batting average with seven hits and nine RBIs, including three home runs. She has power to all fields, an excellent eye at the plate, sneaky speed on the bases, and rarely strikes out.     To say it's been a memorable year for Leah Catto would be an understatement. In her sophomore season for the Ocean City Red Raiders, she broke five single-season program records, along with one career record. Not only did she receive All-State honors, but she also played a vital role in helping the Red Raiders clinch their first sectional title in 37 years. This summer, it's been much of the same. In her first travel ball tournament of the season in June, she clocked in with a .550 batting average, a .625 on-base percentage, and only struck out once. If that's not impressive enough, at the first two days of PGF Nationals, she went 6-for-7 at the plate with five doubles. She is a player who is locked in, and is excelling in all aspects of the game.     If your team is in desperate need of a long ball, Ashlyn Hittle is probably the batter you want at the plate. Already the owner of 24 career home runs at Triton Central, she has continued to mash this summer. At the Alliance Midwest Select Showcase in June, she had eight hits, all of them for extra bases, including six doubles and two home runs. The following week at the Team 1 Elite Invite Tournament, she had five more extra-base hits, with three of them going for long balls for her Indiana Gators squad. Since that tournament, she has gone yard seven more times and has driven in nearly 30 runs, with more games yet to come. Almost everything off of her bat is a rocket, and she will take her fair share of walks, and many of them will be intentional.     Tatum Lowe started off her summer with a bang. At the Battle of the Borders tournament in June, the right-hander hurled a no-hitter for the Heartland Havoc, and kept hitters off balance all afternoon. Her rise was on point and elicited half-hearted swings, while her drop forced hitters to look silly by swinging at pitches in the dirt. She had another spellbinding performance at the NAFA Midwest Nationals, during which she struck out 26 batters over the weekend. Her dominant summer comes after an electric sophomore campaign for the Rockridge Rockets, in which she set career highs in strikeouts, wins, and ERA. She can also swing the bat with the best of them, and had 13 extra-base hits for the Rockets this past season.     All Sophia Shingler has done this year is hit, much to the dismay of pitchers around the country. Her sophomore season for the Northeastern Jets included 18 doubles, six home runs, 31 RBIs, a .568 batting average, and a .633 on-base percentage. Travel ball this summer for the Ohio Lasers has also included plenty of fireworks. At the Colorado Sparkler event, she went 12-for-24 at the plate with six doubles, one home run, and nine RBIs. She has good pitch recognition, impressive bat-to-ball skills, doesn't overswing or try to do too much, and has significant power when she gets her arms extended. While much can be said about her offense, she is just as reliable on defense.

Junior year is paramount for a student-athlete's future both in academics and athletics. Recruiters are watching for up-and-coming stars, and that makes this summer perhaps the most important season of all. The players on this list are making sure their names stand out amongst the crowd.