LOUISVILLE, Ky. – One hundred and eighteen student-athletes from across the country were revealed as part of the 2026 NFCA Division II Player and Pitcher of the Year watchlist. Among the honorees from the Midwest Region is William Jewell's Mikayla Chairez. The senior from Blue Springs, Mo. is the second Cardinal in the NCAA era to make the midseason list, joining Brooke Bernard in 2016. 

The list is broken down into the eight NCAA Regions (Atlantic, Central, East, Midwest, South, South Central, Southeast and West) with up to 15 student-athletes represented in each region. The list is compiled by the elected members of the NFCA Division II All-American Committee with one head coach representing each of the eight NCAA regions. To be eligible, a student-athlete's head coach must be an active NFCA member.
 
Headlining the list are 13 returning NFCA All-Americans, including four from the first team – Maleah Andrews (Western Washington), Jessica Miller (Tiffin), Brianna Gallagher (Catawba) and Sarah Davenport (East Stroudsburg), four from the second team – Gwen McGinnis (Tampa), Heather Arnett (Pittsburg State), Rylee Lemos (Central Oklahoma), Hannah Taylor (Eckerd), and five from the third team – Macy Irelan (Saginaw Valley State), Marissa Quintero (Cal State East Bay), Mia Johnson (Parkside), Aalana Kimble (Saginaw Valley State) and Lauren Harris (McKendree). In all, the group consists of 86 programs from 22 conferences. 

Voted on by the NFCA's Division II All-American Committee, the 2026 NFCA Player of the Year and NFCA/Portolite Pitcher of the Year will be announced on May 27, a day prior to the start of the NCAA Division II National Championships. All student-athletes are eligible for the end-of-the-season award and do not have to be on this list to be considered.

The Player of the Year award was created in 2015 to honor the outstanding athletic achievements among softball student-athletes throughout NCAA Division II. In 2019, the Association expanded the award to include a Player and Pitcher of the Year.