2029 Prospects Finding Their Stride This Fall

All of the athletes on this list had solid freshman seasons. But their sophomore campaigns have been even better. As the weather has cooled down, their bats have heated up. From Colorado to Nebraska, these hitters are locked in.   Below, Prep Softball highlights five prospects from the high school graduating class of 2029 who are finding their stride this fall.    It is a thrilling time to be a Lutheran Lions fan. The Lions have won 19 of their last 20 games as of this writing and are heading to the championship game with a red-hot offense and dominant pitching. Incredibly, the program is looking for its fifth state title in six seasons. A big reason behind the team's success this year is the astounding play of their first baseman, Charlotte Sears. After having only nine at-bats in her freshman season, Sears has skyrocketed to a .487 batting average as a sophomore with 37 hits, 30 RBIs, eight doubles, four home runs, and two triples. Defensively, she has been just as impressive with seven double plays turned, three assists, 59 putouts, and a .969 fielding percentage. The worst news for the Lions' opponent in the title game? Sears went 6-for-7 at the plate in the regional final with a home run, a double, and four singles. She is locked in.     After a freshman season in which she picked up 26 hits in only 60 at-bats and drove in 27 runs, there was no way Olivia Stites was going to be even better her sophomore season, right? Wrong. Stites found her groove with the Platteview Trojans and then some to the tune of a .506 batting average with 44 hits, 38 runs scored, 20 RBIs, seven doubles, four home runs, and three triples. Her speed has been a problem for opponents, and that's putting it lightly. Combined with her stats from travel ball during the summer, Stites has stolen 32 bases in 2026 alone. Perhaps her greatest attribute is simply putting the bat on the ball. At the Van Metre Viking Classic in September, she tomahawked a pitch over her head down the left-field line for a double. She is an impressive hitter and an exciting player to watch.     Layla Hendrick began her sophomore season with a retooled swing, and it paid dividends. The hard-hitting catcher led her team this fall in batting average (.450), on-base percentage (.527), hits (36), slugging percentage (.700), and triples (4). She has a level, powerful swing, and the ball jumps off her bat. She also has a simple approach, and often, when it comes to hitting, simple is best. On the bases, she had nine stolen bags for the Blue Devils, and was an extra-base threat every time she came to the plate. Behind the plate, she was near-perfect with only one error on the season. She is fundamentally sound and plays the game at a high level.     Selah Joiner has taken a wrecking ball to Colorado pitching throughout the season, and she's not done yet. She has a .465 batting average for the season with 40 hits, 35 RBIs, 28 runs scored, 10 doubles, six home runs, and one triple. When she's not smashing the ball, she's taking free passes—15 of them so far this season, to be exact. She has eight more extra-base hits than she did all of her freshman season and a higher on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and OPS. That's not all, however. She has also delivered 13 wins in the circle for the Liberty Lancers this season and has 167 strikeouts. She has lowered her ERA by nearly three-and-a-half points to a solid 3.78 and has lowered her walk total as well.     In addition to having a name that is perfect for softball, Bodhi Venturi is also pretty good at it too. The Georgia sophomore has a whopping 17 extra-base hits so far this season for the Pace Academy Knights, including 11 doubles and four home runs as of this writing. She has 32 hits overall, along with 31 RBIs and 14 walks. While her offense is eye-opening, so is her defense. She currently leads the team with a .983 fielding percentage and has only committed three errors all season. She controls the running game from behind the plate with her strong arm and is the reigning 2025 All-Region Defensive Player of the Year. All of the work she puts in off the field is showing up big time for the Knights.

All of the athletes on this list had solid freshman seasons. But their sophomore campaigns have been even better. As the weather has cooled down, their bats have heated up. From Colorado to Nebraska, these hitters are locked in.

Below, Prep Softball highlights five prospects from the high school graduating class of 2029 who are finding their stride this fall.