Bozeman Catcher signs with Dawson Softball
The Buccaneers recently announced the signing of catcher and corner infielder, Avery Westphal. She will be joining the Buccaneers this upcoming Fall of 2026.
Westphal, the daughter of Nathan and Jennifer Westphal of Bozeman, MT, will graduate from Bozeman High School in May.
During her time in high school, Avery has been able to accomplish a lot in both the classroom and in softball. She was the Community Outreach Manager for the HOSA club at her school. Westphal was nominated the Rotary Club Student of the Month, voted Best of Industry in Bioscience at EconoQuest, and won an Award of Excellence from the Congress of Future Medical Leaders in 2024. She is a part of the Society of Torch and Laurel and the National Honors Society.
Athletically, Avery was nominated as her team's MVP in 2019 and 2020. In 2021 she was voted Most Inspirational Player of the Year and in 2024 she was voted Most Improved Player of the Year.
When asked why she chose Dawson, Avery said, "I chose Dawson because as I was going through my college applications I asked myself if I even wanted to play softball and achieve my dreams of being a college athlete or choose a school only for academics and the name on my Diploma. After taking some time to think about it, it was pretty clear that softball is still my passion and Dawson provides me with not only a very close knit program, but a town that makes me feel safe and excited."
Head softball coach, Casey-May Huff, had this to say about her, "Avery is exactly what we look for in a student-athlete. There is no doubt that she is extremely smart and probably should have chosen a four year institution for her academics; however, her drive and passion for softball is very evident. I believe that our campus will be better off with having a person like her on campus and this can be seen in all her awards mentioned above."
