2023 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year: Eight US national team players among Top-10 finalists
USA Softball announced the Top-10 Finalists in the running for the 2023 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award. Considered the most prestigious individual honour in Division I college softball, this award aims to recognize outstanding athletic achievement by Division I softball players over the course of the entire season.
Playing for USA, Megan Faraimo (UCLA, pictured above) became a Women’s Softball World Champion after winning the gold medal at The World Games 2022.
Along with Faraimo, Maya Brady (UCLA) and Kiki Milloy (Tennessee) were named on the roster for the upcoming WBSC Women’s Softball World Cup Group Stage in Dublin-Fingal, Ireland.
Jayda Coleman (Oklahoma) and Skylar Wallace (Florida) were Faraimo’s teammates at the 2019 U-19 world championship winning team in Irvine, California. Coleman hit .522 (12-for-23) with four RBIs and six runs scored during the World Cup; while Wallace posted a .483 batting average, with two homers, seven RBIs, eight stolen bases and 18 runs scored.
A two-way star, Valerie Cagle (Clemson) was named MVP at the WBSC U-18 Women’s Softball World Cup 2021 in Lima, Peru.
The list also includes five players that participated in the Japan All-Star Series 2022, a WBSC-Sanctioned event: Brady, Faraimo, Tiare Jennings (Oklahoma), Sydney McKinney (Wichita State) and Milloy.
These players are joined by Jordy Bahl (Oklahoma) and Ashley Rogers (Tennessee) in the Top-10 collegiate players list.
The Top-3 Finalists will be revealed on Wednesday, May 17, followed by the announcement of the 2023 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year prior to the NCAA Women’s College World Series slated for June 1-9 at the USA Softball Hall of Fame Complex.