Gracyn Needle comes from a diamond-sport family.

Her mother, King’s Academy coach Kim Needle, played softball at Nova Southeastern University. Her father, Bryan, played baseball at Nova, as well. Gracyn Needle’s older brother, Dalton, plays baseball (and is a Sun Sentinel All-County selection).

The sports are ingrained in her life.

“Growing up in a baseball and softball family, with both my parents playing in college, I had a choice whether I wanted to play or not,” Needle said. “But growing up around it, I really learned to love the game.”

Needle, a sophomore in her third year playing on the varsity team, continued her stellar high school career in 2025, and she is the Sun Sentinel Palm Beach County small-schools player of the year.

Needle improved her power throughout the year, and it showed at the plate. She hit .635 with six home runs. Needle had an eye-popping 1.844 OPS with a 1.189 slugging percentage. In addition to the six home runs, she had 15 doubles and four triples.

She said she also worked on driving the ball to all fields and situational hitting.

“I made sure I was in the weight room year-round,” Needle said. “Being smart for both mobility and for building my strength to be able to go on the field and try to drive the ball out of the park on every side this year.”

Needle still has plenty of time to decide on a future college program, and she does not plan to commit until she is a junior. But she knows what she is looking for in a school.

“I want to go somewhere with the winning program, but most of all, I want to go somewhere with family culture that I can grow in myself and grow with the team,” Needle said.