Gray Collegiate sophomore earns state of SC’s top softball honor
After setting a school record for home runs and helping Gray Collegiate to a state championship, Aspen Boulware won the state’s top softball honor.
The Gray Collegiate sophomore was named 2025 South Carolina Gatorade Player of the Year on Monday. Boulware is just the fourth Midlands player to win the honor, which has been in existence since 1998. The others were Lexington’s Sarah Gordon (2019), Spring Valley’s Casey Rodriguez (2005) and Ridge View’s Kate Morrison (1999).
Boulware is the second Gray athlete to win a Gatorade award, with Jalek Felton winning the boys basketball honor in 2017. The Gatorade Player of the Year is based on a player’s performance both on and off the field.
This season, Boulware hit .573 with 22 home runs, 44 RBIs, eight triples, 26 stolen bases and 67 runs scored in helping the War Eagles to a school-record 32 wins and the Class 4A state championship. It was Gray’s third state title in four seasons but first in Class 4A.
In nine playoff games, Boulware was 11 for 20 with six home runs and eight RBIs. Two of the home runs came in the state championship series against York.
“She is a baller,” Gray coach Doug Frye said of Boulware after a playoff game last month. “She is special. I have been doing this a long time and I have never seen anything like her. She is a gamer and makes plays in the field that not many players can make.”
Boulware’s 22 home runs broke her own school record of 19 set in 2024. She has been a starter on varsity since the seventh grade and has 52 homers and 126 RBIs during that span.
The 5-foot-6 Boulware is the top-ranked infielder in the Class of 2027 by Softball America and Extra Innings Softball. She also was selected for Team USA’s U-18 squad that will play in the World Baseball Softball Confederation Women’s World Cup Finals on Sept. 27-Oct. 2 in Oklahoma City. Boulware is the youngest member of the squad. It will be her second time playing for Team USA after winning MVP honors and winning a gold medal for the U-15 team in the 2023 WBSC World Cup.
Off the field, Boulware maintains an A average in the classroom, is a member of Gray’s student-athlete leadership team and volunteered in the community with her church’s youth group.
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This story was originally published June 9, 2025 at 8:00 AM.
