CANTON, Ga. - The National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) has released the 2026 NFCA Division III Player and Pitcher of the Year Watchlist that holds Lauren Cothern from Berry College softball.
A Sugar Hill, Georgia, native Cothern entered her senior year destined to go out with a bang. As an NFCA All-Region player last season, this year she has played and started in 27 contests scoring 25 runs with 33 hits. She has batted in 28 runners and hit eight doubles and four home runs. Currently she is batting .393 and in the field, as the first baseman her fielding percentage sits at .3993 with 138 putouts.
Cothern is the only Southern Athletic Association athlete on the list.
Voted on by the NFCA’s Division III All-America Committee, the 2026 NFCA Player and NFCA/Portolite Pitcher of the Year winners will be announced on May 27 prior to the start of the NCAA Division III World Series.
Student-athletes do not have to be on this watchlist to be considered for end-of-season awards, which will be voted on by the members of the NFCA Division III All-America Committee. To be eligible to be selected for NFCA Player and NFCA/Portolite Pitcher of the Year honors, a student-athlete’s head coach must be a member.
The NFCA Player of the Year award was created in 2016 to honor outstanding softball achievement in NCAA Division III. In 2019, the Association expanded the award to include separate Player and Pitcher of the Year honors.
For more information on all things SAA, visit the websites of any of the participating schools, or go to the SAA's home on the internet at
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