The National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) recently recognized two Austintown Fitch softball players – Abby Toth and Kaliana Ray – as first-team All-Americans.

Ray, the Falcons’ center fielder who completed her sophomore year at Fitch this past spring, is now a two-time All-American after similarly being named one of the three best outfielders in the country as a freshman.

“Honestly, it was a big surprise. I mean, most people don’t really get it their freshman year, so obviously that was a big surprise to me because I didn’t really expect that I was going to be recognized at such a high level,” Ray said. “And this year, I was really working for it. I knew that expectations were high. And since I got it my freshman year, I kind of set that expectation for myself, and I was really just proud of myself when I heard I got named a second year.”

As for Toth, a Detroit Mercy verbal commit who will be a senior this season, it is the first time she was honored by the NFCA on a national level. She had previously been named to the Region VIII first team as a sophomore at first base, one of two key positions she played in 2025.

While Toth began her junior campaign as the Falcons’ first baseman, as a result of another player’s injury, she finished it as their catcher.

“We didn’t miss a step putting Abby back behind the plate,” Fitch head coach Steve Ward said. “She’s a D-I catcher, going to college to catch. So there’s no lack of talent there, but her versatility truly helps.”

Toth said it was no big deal to shoulder the burden of putting the gear back on and catching for Fitch’s young pitchers.

“I was fine with it because I knew it was something our team needed after Sammy Severn got hurt,” Toth said. “And I play catcher for travel ball, everyone knew that I was a catcher, so I was just doing what was best for the team.”

Both Ray and Toth did what was best for the team more often than not at the plate, too.

The pair were the Falcons’ top hitters this past season; Ray led the team with a .689 batting average and .728 on-base percentage, edging out second-place Toth, who batted .623 and earned a .667 OBP.

Their skillsets serve as effective complements as well, with Ray, Fitch’s leadoff hitter, almost always got on base and took another one or two for good measure.

“Essentially, three out of four times, you’re getting your leadoff on, and then, with her speed, she’s automatically going to second on a steal, potentially coming to third,” Ward said of Ray, who stole a team-high 43 bases this past season.

Conversely, Toth was Fitch’s muscle.

She hit 10 home runs as a junior, accounting for more than a third of the team’s total homers, while driving in a team-best 49 runs. She had the only Fitch slugging percentage above 1.000, and led the team in extra-base hits.

“It’s a game changer,” Ward said of Toth’s power. “It changes the momentum of the game. It changes the way a pitcher will approach batters, and it just opens everything up for us in terms of what we want to do offensively. So it is absolutely huge for her to step up and be able to go yard.”

Despite the accolades they have earned in their respective careers, neither Ray nor Toth are satisfied with where they or the Falcons are.

This past season, for the first time since either player enrolled at Fitch, the team did not win a state title. The Falcons repeated as Division I champions in 2023 and 2024, but in 2025, they fell in the regional semifinals to Massillon Jackson, snapping a more than 15-game playoff win streak.

For both, the goal is to build on this past season’s run as a team and as leaders.

“As a team, obviously, we want to get back to state,” Ray said. “We want to go to state this year, and we’re looking to do better than we did last year. Last year didn’t turn out the way we wanted it to. So I guess this is just an even bigger step. We want to go even further this year.”