OU Softball: 2025 Signee Named Gatorade Oklahoma Softball Player of the Year

Oklahoma signee Allyssa Parker was named the 2024-2025 Gatorade Oklahoma Softball Player of the Year, the organization announced on Monday. 

Parker, a star at Pocola High School, also won the award last year. 

As a senior, the 5-foot-11 pitcher led her team to a 34-1 record and a run to the 2A state title game. 

Parker finished the year with a 28-1 record and she added a save while finishing with a 0.10 ERA, 224 strikeouts and opponents hit just .097 off the right-hander. 

“Allyssa is a great player and players like her come around once every 10 to 15 years,” Jeff Parnell, the head coach at Stuart High School, said in a press release. “She isn’t just a great pitcher, she’s a great hitter and pretty good at shortstop, also.”

Parker also maintained a 4.0 GPA off the field. 

Gatorade Player o the Year celebrates the success of the nation’s top high school athletes on both the field and in the classroom and the community. 

Parker has also served as a member fo the Pocola High School Student Council and volunteered locally at a homeless shelter, per the release. 

The local star signed as one of three pitchers in Patty Gasso’s 2025 recruiting class, though Sophia Bordi re-classified to join the program a year early. 

Parker is rated as the No. 2-overall player in the recruiting class by Softball America, and she’s ranked as the top pitcher in the class. 

Outfielder Kai Minor, who also signed with the Sooners, is the top-overall player in the class. 

OU also added the signatures of infielder Lexi McDaniel, who is the No. 3-overall prospect in the class, Kendall Wells, who is ranked as the best catcher in the class and the fifth-best player and pitcher Berkley Zache, who is rated as the No. 5 pitcher in the class and the No. 13-overall player. 

The 2025 freshman class will also be joined by another new face in LSU transfer Sydney Berzon. 

Last year, she finished 18-8 for the Tigers with a 2.46 ERA in 139 1/3 innings of work across 30 appearances. 

Berzon earned NFCA Second Team All-American honors in 2024 and NFCA Third Team All-American honors in 2023, and she will have one year of eligibility remaining for the Sooners.

The Buffalo, NY, product was rated as the top player available in the transfer portal by Softball America at the time of her commitment. 

Read More Oklahoma Softball:

• Oklahoma Transfer Portal Tracker

The two-time All-American announced her commitment to the Sooners on Friday, and she is slated to join Parker, Zache, Bordi, Kierston Deal, Paytn Monticelli and Audrey Lowery as members of associate head coach and pitching coach Jennifer Rocha’s pitching staff. 

Oklahoma graduated just three seniors off the roster following the 2025 season, which ended against Texas Tech in the semifinals at the Women’s College World Series. 

The Sooners have also had four players enter the transfer portal in outfielders Hannah Coor and Maya Bland, freshman infielder Kadey Lee McKay and freshman catcher Corri Hicks.