Northwest Florida State Raiders' Softball Wins the NJCAA DI World Series
No. 3 Northwest Florida State College clinched the 2025 NJCAA Division I Softball World Series title with a 4–1 victory over No. 1 Florida Southwestern State College on May 24 in Yuma, Arizona. The Raiders capped off a dominant postseason run and finished with a 61–4 record.
🏆 Won't be denied
— NJCAA Softball (@NJCAASoftball) May 24, 2025
Northwest Florida State is the 2025 #NJCAASoftball DI World Series National Champions!https://t.co/JZIlZTas6w pic.twitter.com/FFCkGdGSCK
The game was decided in the third inning, when Northwest Florida State erupted for four runs. First baseman Sister Arnold delivered a two-RBI double, followed immediately by shortstop Bre Hughes with another two-RBI double, which gave the Raiders a 4–0 lead. Florida Southwestern State managed to get on the board in the fifth inning with a RBI double from shortstop Skylar Brennan, but the Raiders' defense and pitching held firm and secured the championship.
Arnold and Hughes led the Raiders' offense both going 2-for-3 on the day with four RBIs. On the mound, Cailyn Heyl delivered a complete-game performance. Heyl allowed one run on nine hits and struck out seven. Northwest Florida State's defense was flawless and committed no errors in the game.
Florida Southwestern State, the No. 1 seed, appeared in the championship game for the fourth time in five seasons and concluded their season with a 56–7 record. Brennan had a standout performance, going 3-for-4 with an RBI.
With this victory, Northwest Florida State College secured its first NJCAA Division I Softball World Series championship.
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Allison Smith is an expert in leadership and organizational behavior in collegiate and professional women’s sports. Smith is a professor (Georgia State University), researcher, and writer. Smith holds a Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee in Kinesiology and Sport Studies. Smith’s research centers on combatting the underrepresentation of women leaders in sport, lack of organizational structure for work life integration for sport employees, and lack of programming and oversight for preparing athletes to transition to life after sport. Since graduating with a bachelor’s in journalism in 2011, Smith has sought opportunities to write about sports as a contributing writer focused on the growth of women’s collegiate, Olympic, and professional sports in this new age and movement for multiple outlets including Athletic Director U, and now Forbes.com. As a former Division I and II pitcher and Division III pitching coach Smith will bring unique insight and expertise to Softball on SI.
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