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Kendall Wells Highlights Eight Oklahoma Players on All-Region Team

The Sooners had the maximum number of representatives on the team.
Ryan Aber|
Oklahoma catcher Kendall Wells celebrates after blasting a home run against Oklahoma State in Bedlam at Devon Park.
Oklahoma catcher Kendall Wells celebrates after blasting a home run against Oklahoma State in Bedlam at Devon Park. | Ryan Chapman / Sooners on SI

NORMAN — Thursday, the day before Oklahoma begins its postseason run, the Sooners had eight players named to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-Region team.

Abby Dayton, Isabela Emerling, Gabbie Garcia, Audrey Lowry, Kai Minor, Ella Parker, Kasidi Pickering, and Kendall Wells were all named first-team all-region.

The eight players is the maximum a team can have.

The group accounts for 131 of Oklahoma's 174 home runs, breaking the 2021 Sooners' NCAA record for home runs in a season. UCLA has since taken a lead on OU with 182 home runs heading into the regional.

Garcia, Parker and Pickering all earned first-team, all-region honors last season. Parker earned third-team honors as a freshman in 2024.

Wells earned the honors a day after being named one of 10 finalists for the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year honors.

Wells is hitting .360 with 36 home runs and 79 RBIs, setting an NCAA record for home runs by a freshman and breaking Jocelyn Alo's single-season OU home run record.

Minor, another freshman, is hitting .446 with nine home runs, 15 doubles and six triples, 41 RBIs, 61 runs scored and 17 stolen bases.

Dayton made a big leap offensively this season, hitting .398 with eight home runs, 42 RBIs and 47 runs scored.

Emerling made the transition to being primarily a first baseman and designated player after serving as the Sooners' primary catcher a year ago.

She also made a jump offensively, hitting .395 with 18 home runs, 54 RBIs and 47 runs scored.

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Garcia, a shortstop, is hitting .392 with 22 home runs, 11 doubles and 68 RBIs with 56 runs scored.

Lowry has been OU's ace this season, going 21-3 with a 2.70 ERA and 82 strikeouts in 114 innings pitched. The sophomore threw a complete-game shutout April 10 at Texas.

Parker is hitting .416 with 21 home runs, 16 doubles, and 61 RBIs. She also was recently named to the All-SEC defensive team.

Pickering started red-hot before cooling off later in the season but is still hitting .377 with 17 home runs and 56 RBIs.

The Sooners, the No. 3 overall seed, open the Norman Regional against Binghamton at 2:30 p.m. Friday at Love's Field. The game will be televised on SEC Network. Kansas and Michigan are also in the regional field.

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Ryan Aber
RYAN ABER

Ryan Aber has been covering Oklahoma football for more than a decade continuously and since 1999 overall. Ryan was the OU beat writer for The Oklahoman from 2013-2025, covering the transition from Bob Stoops to Lincoln Riley to Brent Venables. He covered OU men's basketball's run to the Final Four in 2016 and numerous national championships for the Sooners' women's gymnastics and softball programs. Prior to taking on the Sooners beat, Ryan covered high schools, the Oklahoma City RedHawks and Oklahoma City Barons for the newspaper from 2006-13. He spent two seasons covering Arkansas football for the Morning News of Northwest Arkansas before returning to his hometown of Oklahoma City. Ryan also worked at the Southwest Times Record in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and the Muskogee Phoenix. At the Phoenix, he covered OU's national championship run in 2000. Ryan is a graduate of Putnam City North High School in Oklahoma City and Northeastern State University in Tahlequah.

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