The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Softball’s Atwood wins 2025 Johnny Bench Award
07.09.2025 | Softball
The junior was tabbed college softball’s top catcher.
AUSTIN, Texas – Texas Softball junior catcher Reese Atwood was named the winner of the 2025 Johnny Bench Award, Johnny Bench and the Cincinnati Reds announced Wednesday. Atwood is the first player in program history to earn the prestigious award.
The Johnny Bench Award annually recognizes the top NCAA Division I male and female catchers along with the top high school baseball and softball catchers from Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and West Virginia. Atwood and Coastal Carolina baseball's Caden Bodine were tabbed the top catchers at the collegiate level.
Atwood, a unanimous First-Team All-American and the Diamond Sports/NFCA Catcher of the Year, was instrumental in Texas' run to its first-ever Women's College World Series title. The Sandia, Texas, native became the first Longhorn with 20 or more home runs in back-to-back seasons and finished with a team-best 21 in 2025. Atwood led the nation with 89 RBI, which doubled as the second-most in program history, trailing her own record of 90 set in 2024. She also hit .393 with 13 doubles, 41 walks, a .504 on-base percentage, an. 822 slugging percentage and a 1.326 OPS. She was a force behind the plate, posting a .988 fielding percentage with 313 putouts, 18 assists and just four errors. Opponents did not risk running versus Atwood as she threw out four-of-seven would-be base stealers throughout 68 games this past season.
Energized behind Atwood's bat, the Texas offense topped Division I with 630 base hits, finished second with 460 RBI and third with a .352 batting average and 486 runs scored. They also ranked inside the top-15 in doubles (9th / 99), home runs (9th / 94), slugging (10th / .583) and scoring (14th / 7.15).
For two decades, the Johnny Bench Award was presented to college baseball's top NCAA Division I catcher. The Greater Wichita Area Sports Commission created the award in 2000 and dedicated it to Hall of Fame and Reds Hall of Fame catcher Johnny Bench. In 2019, the award was expanded and permanently relocated to the Reds Hall of Fame & Museum at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Reds Scouting Department provides input on the baseball categories. The awards committee determines each winner with support from local media from each state.
The winners of the 2025 awards will be honored at the Johnny Bench Awards Luncheon on July 29 at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, Ohio. The winners will be recognized during an on-field ceremony prior to the Reds vs. Dodgers game, which is set for 6:10 p.m. CT.
