Slugger Mya Perez, Texas A&M softball seek redemption
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José de Jesus Ortiz, Founder & Editor in Chief
- May 15, 2026
Memory of 2025 NCAA Regional failure lingers
Even if Mya Perez and Kennedy Powell were inclined to put the pain of last season’s disappointing end behind them, the Texas A&M softball leaders would find it impossible. After making history in 2025 as the first overall No. 1 seed to be eliminated in their own NCAA Regional, the Aggies enter the 2026 postseason seeking to atone.
“I think we still can feel it, to be honest with you,” Texas A&M coach Trisha Ford said. “I don’t think we’ll ever forget that feeling. But at the same time we also know that we’re in control. That’s what is very freeing for me. You learn from that.
“And some of your hardest lessons that you learn are the hard ones, right? They’re the losses, and that’s what drives you to hopefully win and succeed.”
The Aggies (38-10) enter the 2026 NCAA Softball Tournament as the No. 15 overall seed. The outside expectations are tremendously more modest entering this postseason, but the Aggies know they’re still the favorite at the College Station Regional.
‘It lingers’
“It lingers on us that we went home in Regionals,” Powell says. “We don’t want to do that. Just kind of making sure, like coach Ford just said, we’re leaving everything on the field each and every game. We believe if we do that we’re going to be at the World Series this postseason.”
In one impressive way, Perez hasn’t put last season behind her. The 5-foot-8, Mexican American from Corona, Calif., is the only player in Division I softball to reach base in every game this season.
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You have to go all the way back to last season to find a game in which Perez didn’t get on base. She carries a nation-leading 56-game on-base streak, dating to last year.
She led the SEC this season with a .614 on-base percentage, which was the second best in the nation. Mya Perez was third in the SEC in batting average (.435) and fourth in slugging (.924). She hit 18 home runs and 10 doubles as opposing pitchers pitched around her most of the year.
Perez, one of the most feared sluggers in college softball, proved to also be one of the best pure hitters.
Consistently stellar
“That’s always my goal is to be consistent,” Perez said. “It’s never really (been) to hit home runs like all that. People think I’m a home run hitter, but I don’t really consider myself that. I’m more just a consistent hitter that just does my job in any way I can, whether that’s a walk or getting hit with a pitch or anything.”
The Aggies will open the double-elimination NCAA Tournament at home against UConn (31-26) at Davis Diamond. Big 12 Tournament winner Arizona State (41-16) will face McNeese State (40-20) in the other first-round game in the College State Regional. The winners of will meet Saturday at 2 p.m.
“The target is on us for this first game, and we have to understand that,” Ford said. “At the end of the day we just have to execute our game. They’re going to punch, but we can sustain punches. And I know that we can sustain punches.”
The Aggies couldn’t sustain punches very well while suffering stunning upsets as the No. 1 seed a year ago. The shadow of last season’s failures hovers over the Aggies heading into this postseason.
Feeling mentally strong
Ford is optimistic that the Aggies learned from last season’s stumble.
“I think you see it this year,” Ford said. “I think you’ve seen them. We’ve had some bumps. And then they fight back. So I feel very confident, especially with these two (Powell and Perez) leading us. They’ve been the faces of our program this whole entire year and … it’s been just very steady.”
The tears from last postseason’s failure were still fresh in Perez’s mind heading into the season. She built upon her breakthrough season with a summer to remember.
Perez starred for the Mexican national softball team. She also helped her Los Angeles Dodgers-affiliated team win a Home Run Derby competition against former MLB All-Stars and renowned softball stars.
“I feel probably the strongest mentally right now,” Perez said. “Honestly like just having that hurt the past two years honestly even my freshman year (and Powell’s) sophomore year, just knowing that we can go out there and just be big. Just don’t let the moment be too big for us. Just go out there and play our game that we’ve been playing forever.”
José de Jesus Ortiz
Founder & Editor in Chief
Award-winning writer Jose de Jesus Ortiz, a former lead sports columnist at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, has covered Major League Baseball since 1997 in Los Angeles, St. Petersburg, New York and Houston. He was the first Latino to serve as president of the Baseball Writers' Association of America.
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