Frontenac senior pitcher Avery Johnson is the Morning Sun softball player of the year for 2025 after leading the Raiders to a second straight Class 3A title.
Johnson, who will pitch at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M next season, helped the Raiders to a 30-1 record. She started all 31 games for the Raiders and pitched 172 2/3 innings, finishing with a 17-1 record. She allowed only 20 earned runs all season and finished with a 0.81 ERA and struck out 228 batters while allowing only 31 walks.
“She was amazing,” Frontenac head coach Cassie Rhuems said. “She has three state titles to her name now and it’s something she should be very proud of. Her mind was made up that she was going to finish on top. She came into the season with an ACL injury and decided to finish out her high school career before surgery. She’s just a workhorse.’”
Johnson pitched in every inning during the state tournament. In the state championship game against Silver Lake, she pitched nine innings, allowing one unearned run and striking out seven as the Raiders defeated the Eagles 2-1 in extra innings.
“We’ve worked a lot on her mental mindset,” Rhuems said. “It was very evident that it paid off in the tournament. She wasn’t going to quit. She kept going, she rallied all her teammates. She contained teams well. She didn’t give up any extra base hits.”
Johnson also earned a .422 batting average with 46 hits, six home runs and 56 RBI.
Johnson finished her career with three state titles and a 100-10 overall record in four seasons. The Raiders went 58-3 in their last two seasons.
“Avery’s a workhorse,” Rhuems said. “Good was never good enough for her. She’s a great teammate; her confidence has grown a lot. She’s a great kid and she was very coachable.”
