NATCHITOCHES – Jenny Fuller added two more names to an already impressive list of signees as part of her first full recruiting class as the head coach of Northwestern State softball.
 
On Tuesday she announced two more junior college standouts that will suit up for the Demons in 2026 with the addition of Makynlie Jones (Jones College) and Sara Watson (Northwest Florida State).
 
 
Makynile Jones – UTL – 5-9 – R/R – Vardaman, Miss. / Vardaman HS / Jones College
 
Prior to NSU
NFCA NJCAA DII Player of the Year (2025)
NFCA NJCAA DII First-Team All-American (2025)
NFCA NJCAA DII First-Team All-South Region (2025)
MACCC Player of the Year (2025)
NJCAA DII Rawlings Gold Glove – OF (2024)
Academic All-MACCC (2024)
 
Played the previous two seasons at Jones College in Ellisville, Miss…produced one of the best offensive seasons in Bobcat softball history in 2025 with a .445 batting average and 1.371 OPS leading the team in hits (102), home runs (26), RBI (103), doubles (19), triples (3) and runs scored (77) on her way to earning four postseason honors as JC went 52-10 overall and 21-5 in conference on the way to a NJCAA DII World Series title game appearance…out of her 62 total games played during her sophomore season, Jones produced 35 multi-hit games with only seven games in the entire season without at least one hit…she had a 23-game hitting streak during the year and an 11-game RBI streak with 30 multi-RBI games…in two seasons with the Bobcats she hit over .400 with 43 home runs, 150 RBI, an OPS of 1.371, 50 multi-hit games and 42 multi-RBI games.

High School
Four-sport athlete (softball, basketball, track, power lifting) at Vardaman HS…led Vardaman to its first state championship in school history as a two-way player at short stop and pitching winning a school-record 20 games…selected as All-State Golden Glove and Silver Slugger..named to USA Softball First-Team All-Southeast Region for her travel ball team the Mississippi Bombers out of Tupelo…helped Bombers to back-to-back Top 3 finishes at USA World Fast Pitch Championships and a Top 5 finish at the Colorado Sparkler.
 
Personal
Daughter of Vanessa and Corey Jones…has two siblings, brother Kipton and sister Kamri…majoring in chemistry and plans to attend optometry school.

Coach Fuller on Jones
"We are thrilled to welcome Makynlie to our softball family," Fuller said. "She is a highly decorated JUCO player that competes at an elite level and brings a fierce competitive spirit. The combination of power and energy on the field that she brings will be a huge asset to our team. She is a culture kid that leads by example, holds those around her accountable and embodies everything we value in our program She is going to make us better on and off the field." 

 

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Sara Watson – UTL – 5-6 – R/R – Bentonville, Ark. / Bentonville HS / Omaha / Northwest Florida State

Prior to NSU
NJCAA DI World Series All-Tournament Team (2025)
 
Spent one season at Omaha before playing the 2025 season at Northwest Florida State where she was a key member of 2025 NJCAA DI National Championship winning team…hit .337 on the season with a .940 OPS…collected 31 total hits with eight extra-base hits, 25 RBI and 29 runs scored…in 46 total games played and 120 plate appearances struck out just six times during the season…named to 2025 NJCAA DI World Series All-Tournament team after going 7-for-13 in five games for the Raiders…had two different stretches of three straight games with two or more hits and scored a run in seven straight games to start the month of April…produced seven multi-hit games during the season…appeared in seven games and made one start in her lone season at Omaha in 2024.
 
High School
Three-time all-state selection at Bentonville HS in Arkansas over each of her final three seasons…won back-to-back state championships in her sophomore (2021) and junior (2022) years.
 
Personal
Daughter of Melissa and Matt Watson…has one brother, Matthew, who was a pitcher at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and 2024 draft pick of the San Diego Padres…majoring in kinesiology with a psychology minor…wants to pursue a career as a coach.

Coach Fuller on Watson
"I am excited to add a player like Sara, who brings high-level energy, to our program," Fiuller said. "I have known Sara for a long time, and have always admired how she plays the game. She competes at a high level with high intensity and will be fun to watch in the purple and white. She helped guide Northwest Florida to a national championship and I know she will elevate our program." 
 

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Watson is the third player from the 2025 Northwest Florida State championship team to sign with the Demons in this class, joining now two-time NFCA All-American Sister Arnold and All-Panhandle Conference outfielder Hayden Andrews. She is the fourth former Raider in the class overall with Britt Bourgoyne playing at NWF during the 2024 season as teammates with Arnold and Andrews. 

The two new JUCO additions increase the signing class to 12 total, with seven coming from the junior college ranks.