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Kendall Wells leads the OU softball honors in SEC

Bob Przybyloby: Bob Przybylo05/08/26BPrzybylo

OU star Kendall Wells highlights a plethora of honors for the Sooners as the SEC awards were announced Friday.

Wells was named the Freshman of the Year and made the All-SEC First Team. She has 36 home runs this season and remains just one shy of tying the NCAA single-season record.

Wells, obviously, was not alone in earning honors for OU. Junior Ella Parker and sophomore Gabbie Garcia were double honorees as well.

The duo made All-SEC Defensive Team and All-SEC First Team.

Freshman Kai Minor also made All-SEC First Team.

The Sooners had three players make All-SEC Second Team with seniors Abby Dayton and Isabela Emerling to go with sophomore pitcher Audrey Lowry.

OU won the regular season SEC title, with a 20-4 conference record. The Sooners, though, were bounced by Georgia in the quarterfinals Thursday night.

OU will find out its fate, its seeding Sunday evening.

Capsules

Wells takes home the 11th conference freshman of the year honor in program history and the first since 2022. The catcher was one of four Sooners named to the first team, joining Minor as the only two freshmen on the first team. . Twice she was named D1Softball National Player of the Week this season. She also took home SEC Player of the Week honors April 8. 

After doing it as a freshman, Garcia notched the combination of earning All-SEC and All-SEC Defensive Team honors, while adding first team recognition for the first time during her incredible sophomore campaign. The shortstop ranks in the top 25 in the country in home runs (22, 10th) RBIs (68, 17th) and total bases (143, 22nd). Garcia hits big and in bunches, pacing the Sooners with five games of 5+ RBIs. She is second on the team in multi-hit games with 20. In the field, she has only committed four errors across 126 chances. 

Parker made her debut on the All-SEC First Team and all-defensive squad in recognition of a phenomenal year and a well-rounded one. The junior has a perfect fielding percentage this season while adding three outfield assists. In the batter’s box she has belted a career-high 21 home runs while driving in 61 and scoring 55 times. The lefty has a .416 batting average and surpassed 200-career hits during the season. 

Rounding out the first team is the five-tool freshman Minor. She has put together one of the best seasons for any player in the nation, let alone any freshman. The center fielder has a spotless mark in the outfield and has put together big numbers on the bases and at the plate. Minor leads all SEC freshmen in batting average at .446, while ranking third in the conference in hits (74) and stolen bases (17).

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