Rachel Garcia

Rachel Garcia is a 5-foot-6 professional softball pitcher from Palmdale, California. She was acquired in the 1st Round of the 2025 Inaugural Draft following a collegiate career at UCLA.

Personal Life

Background: Named to the Board of Trustees for the Women’s Sports Foundation in January 2025. Married Colton in December 2025. She competed in Major League Baseball’s Home Run Derby X event in Kansas City in 2025. She earned MVP honors after hitting 27 home runs and collecting 51 points over two rounds to propel the Blue Jays to the title and berth in the Salt Lake City finals. 

Hobbies: Enjoys playing pickleball, attending concerts, and has a passion for American Sign Language. Has dogs named Winnie and Harley. She also has a passion for American Sign Language.

Professional Experience

Athletes Unlimited Softball League (2021–)

2026 AUSL Regular Season (Texas Volts): Garcia ranked fifth in the AUSL with 12 appearances in the circle and tied for fourth in the league with eight games started as a pitcher. She compiled a 1-5 record while ranking eighth in the league with a 4.26 earned run average, collecting 52 strikeouts over 44.1 innings, good for third among all AUSL pitchers. During the season, she became the first pitcher in AUSL regular season history to secure 100 career strikeouts. As a hitter, Garcia logged a .200 batting average with five hits, including one double, while driving in four runs. On July 15, against Oklahoma City, Garcia matched the AUSL single-game record with 12 strikeouts in a complete-game effort. She also posted a complete-game victory against Carolina on July 13, scattering three hits over 5.0 innings with eight strikeouts in an 8-0 result. On June 26, against Portland, she tallied eight strikeouts over 6.2 innings, and on July 6, at Chicago, she notched six strikeouts in 3.0 innings. At the plate, Garcia drove in two runs with a double against Carolina on July 11.

2025 AUSL All-Star Cup: Secured second place with 1,448 leaderboard points. Joined Sam Apuzzo as the only players in AU history to claim medalist honors four times. Ranked third in the field with a 1.88 ERA, pacing the league with 37.1 innings pitched and three complete games.

2025 AUSL Regular Season (Volts): Ranked second in the AUSL with 15 appearances and led the league with 54.2 innings pitched, 51 strikeouts, and three complete games. Authored the first complete game in AUSL history on June 7.

2024 Championship Season: Accumulated 996 points, posting a 2-4 record with a 3.84 ERA.

2023 Championship Season: Placed fourth with 1,800 points. Set AU single-season records with 800 stat points and 280 MVP points. Led the league with 66 strikeouts in 54.1 innings and belted a league-best five home runs.

2023 AUX Season: Crowned AUX Softball champion with 1,392 points. Reset the AU single-game record with 298 points on June 14. Led the league with a 3.19 ERA.

2022 Championship & AUX Seasons: Placed eighth in the Championship season (1,558 points) and second in AUX (1,422 points).

Other Professional & International Experience (2018–)

Mexican Softball League (2026): Paced the league with a 1.36 ERA and 172 strikeouts in 98.0 innings for Bravas de Leon.

Team USA: Member of the 2026 National Team pool. Piloted Team USA to a Gold medal at the 2025 World Games (1-0, 2.47 ERA, 15 K). Won a Silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Gold medals at the 2019 Pan American Games and 2018 WBSC World Championship.

College Experience: UCLA (2017–2021)

Garcia was a five-year letter winner at UCLA who authored a 99-17 career record with 11 saves.

Career Statistics: Finished her pitching career with 996 strikeouts in 749.0 innings and 66 complete games. Offensively, posted a .337 average with 214 hits, 43 home runs, and 175 RBIs.

Awards & Honors

National Honors: Three-time recipient of the Honda Award for Softball, and won the Honda Cup twice. 2018 and 2021 NFCA Division I Player of the Year, and 2019 NFCA Pitcher of the Year.

All-America: Three-time First-Team NFCA All-America selection.

World Series: 2019 Women’s College World Series Most Outstanding Player.