As much praise as she heaped on her record-shattering seniors this season, Kelly Inouye-Perez also made sure to celebrate another group.
“The younger Bruins,” the UCLA softball coach said before the start of the NCAA Tournament, “are playing up.”
Now they will be the Bruins to play on after the departures of Megan Grant, Jordan Woolery and Taylor Tinsley following the team’s exit from the Women’s College World Series.
There’s no sugarcoating how much production they’ll have to replace.
Grant and Woolery combined for 78 homers in their final season as part of the greatest slugging duo in college softball history. Grant finished her career with a school-record 91 homers and Woolery hit .497 with 36 homers and 117 runs batted in as a senior on the way to being named Softball America’s National Player of the Year.
Tinsley essentially composed the entire pitching staff in the postseason, starting every game and completing 49 1/3 of her team’s 52 innings in the NCAA Tournament.
Expect Inouye-Perez to mine the transfer portal for a couple of proven pitchers who could shoulder a heavy workload next season, alleviating the need to place such a massive burden on one ace.
Another promising option could be Brynne Nally, the only pitcher besides Tinsley to appear in the NCAA Tournament after completing a sharp 2⅔-inning stint against Cal Baptist.
There’s not nearly as much work to do when it comes to restocking the batting order.
Barring any departures via transfer, the Bruins are set to return six starters in left fielder Rylee Slimp, shortstop Aleena Garcia, third baseman Bri Alejandre, second baseman Kaniya Bragg, catcher Alexis Ramirez and center fielder Jolyna Lamar.
Each of those players hit at least 14 homers last season, helping UCLA produce NCAA single-season records with 209 homers, 672 runs scored, 643 RBIs, 1,408 total bases and 334 extra-base hits while averaging 10.7 runs per game.
They’ll be joined by a seven-player freshman class ranked No. 19 by Softball America. The headliner is Aubrey McLaughlin, an outfielder-first baseman from Roosevelt High in Eastvale who was ranked as the top high school prospect in California by Softball America.
Pitcher Josephine Marsh, a right-hander from Orange Lutheran High, should also get an immediate chance to compete for a spot in the rotation.
“It’s a big strength of our program,” Inouye-Perez said, “that freshmen come in and play.”
UCLA’s freshmen helped it return to the Women’s College World Series for a third consecutive year despite doubts about not having enough experience.
“The ability to get back to Oklahoma City, a year that nobody expected us to be here, is something I’m very proud of,” Inouye-Perez said. “We started out [in the] fall with 10 returners and 10 new Bruins. I told them it’s because of how the seniors really took care of those younger Bruins that taught them the Bruin Way.
“Culture is our strength. We play together as a team, we win, we lose together as a team. Everybody got to see how competitive we are and we don’t quit.”
That resolve will carry over into 2027 thanks to a young group that’s already blossoming.