Arkansas softball signee Harrison named Texas Gatorade Player of the Year

BY DUDLEY E. DAWSON

FAYETTEVILLE – One of the vaunted softball signees in Arkansas’ top five recruiting class was named the best player in Texas on Saturday.

Katy pitcher Cameron Harrison was tabbed the Lone Star state’s Gatorade Player of the Year after a senior season in which she went 22-1 record on the mound with a 0.53 ERA and 232 strikeouts in 119.1 innings pitched.

Harrison also hit .500 with 10 home runs, 47 RBIs and 28 runs scored for a squad that went 39-3-1 this season.

“She’s just everything you want in a player,” retired Katy softball coach Kalum Haack told the Katy Times. “She has all the talent, the pitching, the hitting, but it’s her work ethic and leadership that stick out. She’s like a second coach out there. She just has special qualities and it’s going to take her a long way.”

Harrison is part of an 8-player class that includes four of the nation’s best high school pitchers and is ranked No. 5 in the country by Extra Innings.

“Cameryn can throw hard and move the ball around,” Paetow head coach Ryan Baker said in the Gatorade release. “She hits her spots and does not make many mistakes. She’s that pitcher that wants the ball and does not want to come out of the game.

“She can hit for power, but also drop down a bunt when asked to do it. She’s a team player and will do what she has to do to help her team win games.”

Harrison will be joined at Arkansas by Katy outfielder Ashtyn Reichardt, who was named the District 19-6A offensive player of the year in a season where her team scored 412 runs while allowing just 28.

“She’s the best pitcher I have ever been around,” Reichardt told the Katy Times about Harrison. “She goes out and makes every pitch and works hard every pitch. It makes all of her teammates want to work hard for her and just everything she brings to a team lifts her teammates up.”

Reichardt hit a team-high .560 with 11 home runs, 45 RBIs and 20 stolen baes for a team that was ranked No. 1 nationally most of the high school season.

Harrison joins two other All-American pitchers joining Arkansas next season in fellow right handers Lexi King of Windmere, Fla., and Payton Burnham of Eugene (OR) Sheldon.

King went 15-2 as a senior with a 0.88 ERA while fanning 147 in 133 innings. She allowed just a .172 batting average, allowed a total of 13 runs while walking just 10.

The Orlando Sentinel Player of the Year ended her high school career with 37 wins and 359 strikeouts and allowed just two homers in three seasons.

Burnham was 29-0 with a 0.32 ERA while fanning 328 batters in 152 innings as a senior

She also hit 17 home runs and capped off her high school career by pitching a no-hitter as Sheldon won a back-to-back championship.

The reigning Gatorade Player of the Year in Oregon, Burnham was 30-1 last season as a junior with a 0.19 ERA while whiff fanning 375 in 186 innings last season.

The position players signed include Reichardt, Richmond (Texas) Foster infielder Ella McDowell, Green County Tech utility player Ava Carter, Fresno (Calif.) Central first baseman Jayden Ramos and Shreveport (LA) Calvary Baptist outfielder Ramsey Walker.

McDowell, ranked as a top three overall player nationally and the 2024 class’ best infielder by Extra Innings Softball, hit .709 as a senior with 22 home runs and 58 RBIs.

Harrison, Reichardt and McDowell were all Impact Gold Jackson summer teammates.

Walker hit .575 while hitting 23 home runs and driving in 68 runs wile leading Calvary Baptist to a fourth consecutive state championship.

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There have been six Razorbacks who have entered the NCAA Transfer Portal.

Those include Omaha-born twins Hannah and Lauren Camenzind, who transferred home to Nebraska, catcher Kylie Brockman, outfielders Kacie Hoffman and Nyah Fontenot and pitcher Nikki McGaffin.

Photo courtesy of Cameryn Harrison