Arizona softball places 3 on NFCA All-American teams, Devyn Netz earns Gold Glove

Arizona softball’s Devyn Netz, Sydney Stewart, and Dakota Kennedy became the program’s largest group of NFCA All-Americans since 2021 on Wednesday when the coaches organization announced its three All-American teams. Netz also earned a Gold Glove.

The trio increased the number of All-American honors for the Wildcats to 114, tying with UCLA for the most all-time. A total of 60 different players earned those 114 honors. Kennedy became the 32nd Wildcat to earn NFCA All-American status in multiple years.

Netz earned the first NFCA All-American honor of her career by being named to the second team. It’s the third honor this season after Softball America and D1 Softball both named her to their teams.

The redshirt senior led the team with a 0.94 WHIP, seven complete games, 22 pitching wins, two saves, 68 RBI, and 23 multi-RBI games. She led the Big 12 in walks allowed per seven innings (1.01). She was second in the league in strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.36), RBI, pitching wins, and RBI per game (1.15).

Netz also earned a Rawlings Gold Glove for her work in the field. The pitcher/infielder did not commit an error in the circle or at first base until the first game against Ole Miss at the Tucson Regional. She ended the year with just one. She was part of 19 double plays to lead the team.

It was the third straight season for a Wildcat to take home a Gold Glove. Netz earned hers as a pitcher. In 2024, Kennedy earned one in left field. In 2023, Allie Skaggs took the award at second base.

Stewart was also named to the second team in her first year as an NFCA All-American. The junior catcher led Arizona with 20 home runs, almost three times as many as she had in two years at Washington before transferring to Tucson. She had two as a freshman and five as a sophomore as a member of the Huskies.

Stewart was fourth on the team with a .374 batting average, although only one of those above her had qualifying stats according to the NCAA. She led the team in OPS (1.361), walks (48), slugging percentage (.819), on-base percentage (.542), total bases (127), and hits-by-pitches (10). She was second with 56 runs scored, trailing leader Regan Shockey by just one. She was tied for third with nine doubles.

Stewart was second in the Big 12 in RBI, walks per game (0.80), OBP, home runs, slugging percentage, and total bases.

As a defensive catcher, Stewart was asked to learn eight different pitchers and regularly serve as the backstop for three or more in a single game. She committed just one error behind the plate while starting 60 of Arizona’s 61 games. That was a drop from five at the catcher position in 2024.

Stewart also threw out eight runners and allowed 11 stolen bases in a dramatic improvement for the position. Arizona’s 2024 catching tandem allowed 33 stolen bases while throwing out seven the year before she transferred in. In 2023, Arizona’s two catchers allowed 47 stolen bases while only throwing out two.

Kennedy was honored on the third team. It was the second straight year that she earned All-American honors from the association.

Although an injury kept her stats from meeting NCAA minimums, Kennedy still started 44 games and had 135 at-bats. She led Arizona with a .444 batting average and was second with 10 doubles. Her 1.228 OPS was third on the team, and her .689 slugging percentage was fourth. She drew 28 walks, good for third. She tied Netz for third with 60 hits despite playing in 16 fewer games.

Kennedy once again had a 1.000 fielding percentage in left field. It was the second straight year for that accomplishment.

Lead photo by Ryan Kelapire