Kat Johnson might go down as one of the best pitchers to play softball on the South Plains.

The Levelland senior went into the record books with the second-highest career strikeout total for high school softball in the state of Texas (1,557) and will soon be playing collegiately for Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va.

So it was an easy choice to select Johnson as The Avalanche-Journal’s All South Plains Class 3A-2A-1A-TAPPS Pitcher of the Year.

“She’s just a great kid,” Levelland head coach Jesse Casarez said. “She’ll be a hard one to replace.”

And while someone will step in next year for the Lady Lobos as the No. 1 pitcher, it’s likely that no one will ever replace what she did for four years.

Johnson was 99-28-3 at Levelland, finishing with a 0.66 career ERA while batters hit a measly .089 against her. She finished with 25 one-hitters, 72 shutouts and 23 no-hitters – three of which were perfect games.

Her 1,557 strikeouts rank second behind current University of Texas pitcher Kayla Barnhill.

Estacado coach Christy Kegans, the Coach of the Year, knew what it was like to face Johnson. Her Lady Matadors made a charge to make the playoffs this past season for the first time in school history, coming one win shy of doing so after winning four District 1-3A games – the most district wins in school history for the softball program.

Joining Johnson and Kegans is Player of the Year D’Maris Murillo from Slaton. A pitcher as well, she also provided offensive power for the Tigerettes, hitting .569 with 21 RBIs.