LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Texas Tech’s NiJaree Canady repeated as the NFCA Pitcher of the Year and Nebraska’s Jordy Bahl was voted NFCA Player of the Year, the Association revealed on Wednesday at the Women’s College World Series (WCWS) press conference in Oklahoma City. Canady and Bahl are representing their programs for the first time with these plaudits.
Canady, an unanimous first-team All-American for the second straight season, continued to dominate during her junior campaign and first season with the Red Raiders. She becomes the first student-athlete to repeat as pitcher of the year*.Canady’s prowess in the circle has keyed Texas Tech to its first trip to the WCWS and her third appearance in Oklahoma City. Boasting a 30-5 overall record and 0.89 ERA, both tops in NCAA Division I, the Big 12 Player of the Year has struck out 279 batters, walked only 41 and held her opposition to a NCAA DI-low .153 batting average in 205 innings of work.
*UCLA’s Rachel Garcia won award three consecutive seasons – Player in 2018 and 2021, along with Pitcher in 2019. No award was presented in 2020.
Canady, an USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year finalist also tops Division I by allowing just 3.65 hits per seven innings, ranks fourth in strikeouts to walk ratio (6.80), sixth in strikeouts and eighth in strikeouts per seven innings (9.5). She has complimented herself at the plate, batting .312 with team-best 11 home runs to go along with 34 RBI and a 1.174 OPS.
Excelling both at the plate and in the circle, Bahl made a commanding return to the field following a season-ending injury in 2024. In doing so, the unanimous Joan Joyce Utility/Pitcher First-Team NFCA All-American was pivotal in Nebraska’s run to the Super Regionals as an unseeded team in 2025. As the first player to be named Big Ten Player and Pitcher of the Year, Bahl is the first Husker in program history to record 15 doubles and 15 home runs in the same season and just the fifth Division I player all-time to register 20 wins and 20 home runs in a season.
Bahl (26-8, 1.56 ERA, 286 K, .156 opp. BA / .462, 16 2B, 23 HR, 66 RBI, 72 R, .555 OBP, .988 SLG) ranks in the top 10 nationally in runs per game (4th), slugging percentage (6th), batting average (6th), home runs (t-7th) and home runs per game (9th). The USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year finalist also ranks in the top 10 nationally in the following pitching categories: opponent batting average (3rd), hits allowed per seven innings (3rd), shutouts (4th), complete games (5th), wins (t-5th), strikeouts per seven innings (6th) and ERA (8th).
The Player of the Year award was created to honor the outstanding athletic achievements among softball student-athletes. In 2019, the Association expanded the award to include a Player and Pitcher of the Year.
The awards are voted on by the selected members of the NFCA Division I All-American Committee with one head coach representing each of the NFCA’s 10 regions. To be eligible, a student-athlete’s head coach must be a member and athletes must also be first-team All-Americans.
Player & Pitcher of the Year Winners
2025 – Jordy Bahl, Nebraska (Player) / NiJaree Canady, Texas Tech (Pitcher)
2024 – Jocelyn Erickson, Florida (Player) / NiJaree Canady, Stanford (Pitcher)
2023 – Skylar Wallace, Florida (Player) / Ashley Rogers, Tennessee (Pitcher)
2022 – Jocelyn Alo, Oklahoma (Player) / Georgina Corrick, USF (Pitcher)
2021 – Rachel Garcia, UCLA (Player) / Montana Fouts, Alabama (Pitcher)
2019 – Abbey Cheek, Kentucky (Player) / Rachel Garcia, UCLA (Pitcher)
2018 – Rachel Garcia, UCLA
2017 – Megan Good, James Madison University
2016 – Sierra Romero, Michigan
The NFCA (National Fastpitch Coaches Association) is the professional organization for fastpitch softball coaches. Known for its highly-regarded NFCA Player & Pitcher 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.
Learn more about the NFCA and consider joining over 7,000 coaches today!
