Rylee Stephenson of Cheyenne East Wins 2025 Gatorade Wyoming Softball Player of the Year Honor

Cheyenne East senior Rylee Stephenson was selected as the Gatorade Wyoming Softball Player of the Year for the 2025 season on Monday. She is the first and only recipient of this honor from East High School in Cheyenne. Stephenson earned all-state honors during her senior season and helped the Thunderbirds to a third-place finish at the state tournament.

2025 GATORADE SOFTBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR IS RYLEE STEPHENSON

The 5-foot-8 pitcher and third baseman led Cheyenne East to a 26-5 overall record. In the circle, Stephenson was 13-5 with one save. She struck out 158 batters over 99.1 innings pitched. At the plate, Rylee had a .539 batting average with 66 RBIs. She hit a state-record 18 home runs and finished with an OPS of 1.750. Stephenson was also named the South Conference Player of the Year.

In the classroom, Rylee maintained a 3,79 GPA. She will attend the University of Wyoming in the fall. Stephenson has volunteered locally as a youth softball instructor and as a tutor in math and science. She also donated time to multiple community service initiatives through her church youth group.

Cheyenne Central head coach Carrie Barker praised Stephenson for her all-around ability.

“She led the state in home runs and was the best pitcher. She was also a really good third-baseman. On top of all that, she always displayed really good sportsmanship.”

Stephenson is the Fourth Winner in State History

Stephenson becomes a finalist for the Gatorade National Softball Player of the Year Award, which will be announced later this month. She joins Avery Gray (2022-23 and 2023-24) from Campbell County and Brogan Allen (2021-22) of Cheyenne Central as the only Gatorade Wyoming Softball Player of the Year award winners in state history. No award was given in the first year of high school softball in Wyoming in 2021.

As part of Gatorade’s commitment to breaking down barriers in sport, every Player of the Year also receives a grant to donate to a social impact partner. To date, the Gatorade Player of the Year program has provided more than $5.6 million in grants to winners across more than 2,000 organizations.

*Information from a press release from The Gatorade Company was used in this story.