LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Southern Oregon University’s Ayla Davies was named 2025 NFCA Pitcher and Freshman of the Year with Oklahoma City’s Analise Rayburn tabbed the NFCA Player of the Year the Association announced on Monday.
It marks the first NAIA student-athlete to win the NFCA’s freshman award, along with either player or pitcher of the year, and just the second time across the four-year divisions (Hannah Hull, Virginia Wesleyan (NCAA DIII), 2017).
Davies, a unanimous first-team All-America selection, was pivotal in the Raiders securing their fourth national championship in six seasons. The rookie right-hander finished 38-5 with six saves, a 1.20 ERA, 36 complete games and 19 shutouts. Davies fanned 312 batters across 297 innings, recorded a 7.4-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio and held her opposition to a .188 batting average. Her wins, strikeouts, shutouts and complete games topped the NAIA, while her saves were second and ERA eighth.
At the NAIA Softball World Series alone, Davies pitched eight consecutive complete games, posted a 1.26 ERA, recorded four shutouts and set a tournament record with 71 strikeouts. Her dominant performance keyed SOU through seven elimination games and earned her the tournament’s MVP honors. Davies also collected Pitcher of the Year honors from the NAIA and the Cascade Collegiate Conference.
Rayburn, who was also a first-team NFCA All-American, is the third Star to be named NFCA Player of the Year joining Kennedy Jackson (2022) and Jaci Smith (2019). She won two-thirds of the NAIA’s Triple Crown, leading the league with 28 home runs and 102 RBI to go along with a .486 batting average which ranked 11th. Rayburn also excelled defensively at shortstop, committing just five errors in 221 chances for a .977 fielding percentage.
Rayburn also topped the NAIA with 25 doubles, 218 total bases and a 1.028 slugging percentage, in addition to being second with 103 base hits, and sixth with 71 runs scored. In keying the Stars to a national runner-up finish, Rayburn opened the tournament up in style with a two-home run, seven-RBI outing against Central Methodist.
The Player of the Year award was created to honor the outstanding athletic achievements among softball student-athletes throughout the NAIA. In 2019, the Association expanded the award to include a Player and Pitcher of the Year. To be eligible, student-athletes must be nominated by their member head coach.
The Freshman of the Year award honors the outstanding athletic achievement among freshman softball student-athletes throughout NAIA. To be eligible, student-athletes must come from an NFCA member institution. Reinhardt’s Emily Loveless was the inaugural winner in 2021, followed by Southeastern’s Riley Sanders in 2022 and Baker’s Kira Baker in 2023.
Awards are voted on by the Association’s NAIA All-America Committee, which is comprised of one elected member head coach from each of the NFCA’s six regions.
NFCA NAIA Player & Pitcher of the Year
2025 – Analise Rayburn, Oklahoma City (Player) / Ayla Davies, Southern Oregon (Pitcher)
2024 – Sarah Giles, Jessup (Player) / Cassandra Valdez, Our Lady of the Lake (Pitcher)
2023 – Haley Loffer, College of Idaho (Player) / Annaliese Wood, Georgia Gwinnett (Pitcher)
2022 – Kennedy Jackson, Oklahoma City (Player) / Emily Cerny, USAO (Pitcher)
2021 – Maile Deutsch, McPherson (Player) / Allison Golic, St. Xavier (Pitcher)
2019 – JC Smith, Oklahoma City (Player) / Gabby Sandoval, Southern Oregon (Pitcher)
2018 – Emily Cerny, University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma
2017 – Kaisey Carson, Indiana Wesleyan University
2016 – Nicole Nonnemacher, St. Xavier University
NFCA NAIA Freshman of the Year
2025 - Ayla Davies, Southern Oregon
2024 – Tara Hoehner, Oklahoma City
2023 – Kira Baker, Baker University
2022 – Riley Sanders, Southeastern University
2021 – Emily Loveless, Reinhardt University
The National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) is the professional organization for fastpitch softball coaches. Known for its highly-regarded Tucci/NFCA Freshman of the Year Awards, the NFCA also educates and supports softball coaches on a variety of different levels: from podcasts to a comprehensive drills database, to in-person events and National Convention
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