Granville, Ohio - Denison University softball catcher Annabelle Calderon '25 was signed by the Kansas City Diamonds as a development player in the newly formed Professional Softball League.

Calderon is the first Big Red softball player to be selected to compete in the PSL, and is currently playing in the Professional Softball League Development (PSLD) with a feeder team to the Kansas City Diamonds organization. The PSL's mission is to "advance professional softball through a coalition of equal partner franchises committed to upholding competitive integrity, providing player opportunities, and ensuring long-term sustainability."

The PSL's inaugural season begins this summer (2026), with four teams playing full schedules, expanding to six teams in 2027. The four teams to play full schedules this summer are the Florida Vibe, Atlanta Smoke, Kansas City Diamonds, and the Florida Breeze. Future organizations that will play a reduced schedule include the NY Rise, Chattanooga Chill, and more to be announced as the PSL prepares for expansion in 2027.
 

A four-year varsity letter winner with the Denison softball team, Calderon graduated as a Big Red as one of the most decorated softball players in program history. She graduated magna cum laude as a Biology major, was inducted into Chi Alpha Sigma national scholar athlete honor society, and was a 2025 Denison President Medal Recipient.

On the field, she wrapped her career with the Big Red as the softball program's record holder for batting average, doubles, slugging percentage, home runs, and total bases. In her final season with Denison as the starting catcher, she recorded 161 putouts, 15 assists, and had a fielding percentage of 0.983. She is a two-time NFCA Catcher of the Year recipient, two-time NFCA First Team All-America honoree, and a two-time NCAC Player of the Year. Academically, she is a three-time Easton/NFCA All-American Scholar-Athlete and is one of two softball players to be named a College Sports Communicator Academic All-America®.

 

Much as she did at Denison, Annabelle has found ways to make an impact in her community. On top of earning a spot on the PSLD, she is also coaching three teams: an 18u JR Diamonds team under the pro organization, as well as volunteer coaching two inner-city 12u rec teams with the Boys and Girls Club/ Royals Athletic Development as part of the youth athlete outreach.

When she's not on the field, she'll be in the lab on Kansas University's campus as a full-time researcher with the orthopedics team, where she and her fellow researchers will be working on seven active studies and presenting their research at several conferences.

Annabelle also shared that, "I'm already pre-selected to play exhibition games throughout the summer for the pro teams in the PSL, which is pretty freaking exciting!"