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The 4 best college softball players remaining in the transfer portal

An All-American outfielder, a versatile utility star, and one of the best pitchers in the sport are the top players available in the softball transfer portal two weeks after the end of the Women’s College World Series.

California v Stanford
California v Stanford
Photo by Eakin Howard/Getty Images
Mitchell Northam
Mitchell Northam is a Senior Writer for SB Nation, covering women’s college sports at Breakaway.

The past two weeks have been a whirlwind for the transfer portal in college softball.

We saw multiple star players from teams that were in the Women’s College World Series announce their intent to transfer, and a few of them have already found a new home in Lubbock, Texas, with the Texas Tech Red Raiders, who seem invested in returning to Oklahoma City next season.

But the carousel hasn’t stopped spinning . Several talented players are still weighing their options for next season and many teams are still shopping the portal, looking to fill holes and upgrade positions. According to On3’s rankings, eight of the top 10 players in the portal have signed with new teams.

Here are the best players remaining in the softball portal:

Dakota Kennedy — Outfielder, Arizona

A three-year starter for the Wildcats, Kennedy was an All-American and an All-Big 12 selection this season. She was sidelined for 17 games this past year with a broken hand, but came back to hit for a .444 average in 44 games. She also notched 60 hits, 10 doubles, 28 walks, 25 RBI, and had an OPS of 1.228. The left fielder from California would be a great addition to any lineup.

Maya Johnson — Pitcher, Belmont

Arguably the best player remaining in softball’s transfer portal is Johnson. The left-handed All-American junior led all Division I pitchers in multiple statistical categories this season, including strikeouts (366), strikeout-to-walk ratio (16.64), shutouts (11), strikeouts per seven innings (12.4), walks allowed per seven innings (.74), and hits allowed per seven innings (3.82). Her ERA, 1.52, ranked seventh nationally. Johnson has one year of eligibility left and will likely be an ace for a team with lofty postseason aspirations.

Addison Amaral — Shortstop, Notre Dame

A two-time All-ACC selection, the right-handed 5-foot-9 sophomore did everything for the Fighting Irish this season, leading the team in batting average, runs, hits, doubles, home runs, RBI, total bases, slugging percentage, walks, on base percentage and sacrifice flies. She’s piled up 111 hits and 195 total bases in 105 games with the Irish. She’ll now take her career .352 batting average elsewhere with two years of eligibility left.

Elon Butler — Utility, Cal

One of the more versatile players in the country who has starred at both second base and right field for the Golden Bears, Butler enters the portal with one year of eligibility remaining. A former All-American, Butler led Cal in walks and stolen bases this season, and was second on the team in batting average (.361) and runs scored (46). She also piled up 60 hits and 100 total bases. Butler also has 37 career home runs and a .621 slugging percentage.

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