G-K’s Brooklyn Pettit is TNT’s 2026 All-Area Softball Player of the Year
Since Brooklyn Pettit’s middle school days, Jamie Thomas caught early glimpses of a pitcher beyond her years.
The nasty changeups, the wicked curveballs — Graham-Kapowsin’s head coach recognized the potential when he welcomed a sixth-grade Pettit into the program four years ago. Today, the sophomore stands among the state’s elite.
“If she’s on the mound, and we hit? We’re golden,” Thomas told The News Tribune last month.
Despite the breakout freshman season she enjoyed in 2025, Pettit knew there was more to unlock. It wasn’t until last summer that she realized: “If I want to play my best, then I have to play confident, and I have to play free.”
And so the work began. Last fall, between games at a club tournament, Pettit developed a rise ball on a whim. When Eagles standout Jessika Jennings graduated to UMass Lowell last spring, the incoming sophomore embraced a leadership role as the new face of the South Sound’s best team.
Spend a few innings near the G-K dugout, and you’ll notice Pettit is rarely in one place. She’s pacing the dugout line, congratulating teammates and encouraging others. More often than not, the Eagles offense pours it on.
“I was on a club team with (Brooklyn) last year, and seeing her growth is insane,” Eagles freshman Manamea Laban said in May. “Her mental game’s amazing. She’s there for us. She’s able to pick it up and just go.”
Pettit’s latest efforts yielded Graham-Kapowsin’s best season in program history. The Gatorade Washington Softball Player of the Year threw four no-hitters, carrying the Eagles to a runner-up finish at the Class 4A state tournament in Richland last month. No player better embodied the meaning of “MVP.”
“They feed off of her,” Thomas said Tuesday. “If she’s pitching phenomenally, they’re feeding off it and feeding off it. And they know they can make a mistake and come back.”
Pettit went 24-1 with a 0.71 earned run average this spring, recording a South Sound-best 317 strikeouts. She was one of two pitchers to eclipse 300 punch-outs statewide, fanning 57 percent of the batters she faced.
A premier two-way player, Pettit belted 14 home runs with 45 RBI. She posted career-highs in batting average (.545) and (1.148) slugging percentage (1.148), striking out just five times in 103 plate appearances.
Pettit is The News Tribune’s 2026 All-Area Softball Player of the Year.
“It feels great that I know I worked hard enough to get here,” Pettit said. “It just feels so special to me.”
The right-hander’s true, four-pitch mix (rise ball, fastball, changeup, curveball) dominated the 4A South Puget Sound League from start to finish. Graham-Kapowsin (27-2) captured a league title for the first time in program history, rolling through the SPSL unscathed.
Standing on their home infield Tuesday afternoon, both Pettit and Thomas recalled Graham-Kapowsin’s nine-inning win over defending 4A state runner-up Rogers, 5-4, on April 17 as the sophomore’s signature performance. Pettit went the distance and then some, allowing four runs (two earned) with one walk and 16 strikeouts.
Graham-Kapowsin fell to Skyline, 7-0, in the Class 4A state championship game on May 23. Spartans pitcher Abby Haapala, a Santa Clara commit, threw a no-hitter with two walks and 14 strikeouts across seven innings.
“Obviously, it didn’t work out how we wanted it to, but it was super fun,” Pettit said. “I got to experience new things, and I just got to make a deep run with my team.
“A lot of these girls I’ve known since middle school, and I’ve played on a club team with them. It’s just so special.”
Graham-Kapowsin’s core returns in 2027, primed for another deep tournament run. The Eagles graduated just one starter this spring.
“We’re just hoping the freshmen do what Brooklyn did,” Thomas said. “Have that growth from their freshman to sophomore year. That just makes us even better.”
This story was originally published June 10, 2026 at 5:00 AM with the headline "G-K’s Brooklyn Pettit is TNT’s 2026 All-Area Softball Player of the Year."
