USA Softball, the governing body of the United States’ national softball team, has announced its lineup of athletes that will represent the U.S. for events throughout 2025.

35 athletes from throughout the country will compete in a number of events hosted by the World Baseball Softball Confederation, including the U-15 Americas Qualifier, the U-15 World Cup, and U-18 World Cup Finals. One such athlete, from the WBSC’s sixth region, and the KHSAA’s 10th region, Bracken County’s Kyndall Johnson will represent her school, county and state alongside 18 other U-15 athletes throughout 2025.

“I think she’s beyond excited. Especially when she looks at the 18-U national teams and the colleges they’ve committed to. Almost every girl on that 18-U team has committed to a power four school.” said Johnson’s father, and Bracken County Lady Bears head coach, Jamie Johnson, “That’s something she’s always dreamed of, committing to a power four school. Once she saw that I think it kinda made her feel a little bit better, if she was ever doubting herself.”

Johnson, the only athlete from Kentucky competing on the 2025 U-15 Women’s National Team, will join athletes from Texas, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Louisiana, North Carolina, Hawaii and Oklahoma, when they compete in the WBSC U-15 Americas Qualifier and WBSC U-15 World Cup later this year in Italy. Venues and dates are still yet to be determined.

“She realizes, she knows how many kids were competing against her in her region, and knowing there’s ten regions across the country. Thousands of kids have tried out for this. For people that really don’t know I describe it like American Idol, you have all these auditions, then they narrow it down to how many goes onto the show, and she made the show.” said coach Johnson.

Johnson will be a catcher for the U-15 team, a position she has had a lot of experience playing alongside her sister, standout pitcher, Ella Johnson.

At the varsity level, Johnson has had just two years of experience with the Bracken County Lady Bears, starting in 2023 as a seventh grader. That year, she led the team in the batters’ box, scoring 47 runs for Bracken County across 50 hits, with 22 RBIs. Across 112 at-bats, she struck out just 11 times, walking 16, ending her first season with the Lady Bears with a .446 batting average. Last season, she led the Lady Bears at the plate once again, picking up 57 hits across 118 at bats, scoring 47 runs and batting in 46 more. With just five strikeouts this season, and 12 walks, Johnson ended 2024 with a .483 batting average, for a career batting average of .465.

As a freshman in 2025, Johnson looks to continue to lead the Lady Bears offensively throughout the high school softball season, hoping to reclaim Bracken County’s 39th district championship from the Mason County Lady Royals, and advance deep into the 10th region softball tournament, two important goals for both her and the rest of the Lady Bears, although Johnson will be using the season to prepare for her time with the U.S. team later in the year.

“I struggled with it, knowing that she’s gonna miss some high school games. If I wasn’t the coach I probably wouldn’t have struggled with it as much. I felt like she’s letting her team down, but she’s also a kid that works her tail off to get to where she’s at. Her dreams are go on to play and get her college paid for by playing softball. This is big for her. This is big in recruiting, and luckily it’s early in the season, the games that she’ll miss. The coaching standpoint I’m still thinking she’s letting her team down but if it was anybody else’s kid, I probably wouldn’t feel that way, I’d be like yeah, go do what you need to do to better yourself. As a dad, I’m extremely proud. I know she’s talented. I think we all know our kids inside and out and I always thought she had the ability to go big.” said coach Johnson.

As winter eventually turns into spring, and baseball and softball teams return to the field, Johnson will continue to tirelessly work on improving her skills both offensively in the batters box, and defensively both behind the plate as a catcher, and in the field as a shortstop. The dates and locations for the 2025 WBSC events have yet to be set, but will be announced soon, as athletes continue to prepare.