Softball (27-26, 12-14 A-10) capped off their season earlier this month with a .509 winning percentage, narrowly missing out on the conference tournament as a team, while seven athletes picked up A-10 postseason awards.
The team finished seventh in the conference, on par with their ranking in the preseason poll, after sweeping a three-game series against St. Bonaventure on May 4 and 5 and winning 12 of 26 A-10 contests during the season. The top six teams ahead of GW competed at the A-10 Championship in the Bronx, New York, on Saturday where top-seed Dayton took home the crown for the second year in a row.
The Revolutionaries won the conference and regular season championships in 2021, repeating the regular season win in 2022 and ultimately earning silver at the A-10 Championship final. Despite A-10 season polls picking the Revolutionaries to finish seventh in the A-10 this season, they failed to gain momentum, going 12-14 in conference play and ultimately finished seventh out of 10 in the conference. Last season, the Revs finished ninth of 10, improving their ranking this season by several positions.
This year’s performance marks a slight rebound for the team, who finished the season with a winning percentage more than .500 after sweeping a three-game series against St. Bonaventure on May 4 and 5. They won the last three games with a combined score of 42-8.
The Revolutionaries had a turbulent season with several multigame losing streaks. Just before its defeat of the Bonnies, GW fell 2-1 to Georgetown on April 30, stranding a runner on third base to end the game. Days earlier, the Revs dropped all three games in a series against Massachusetts.
The highlight of their season came in mid-March when they secured conference series victories against Dayton and Loyola Chicago, the two winningest teams in the conference. Dayton went on to clinch gold in the conference championship Saturday after beating out Loyola Chicago in the finals. Prior to this, the Revolutionaries had beat out Cornell University and universities of California Davis and Maryland Eastern Shore in the weeks prior.
This season, sophomore utility Rose Cano expanded on her breakout freshman year, helping the team’s production on both sides of the field and earning a first-team all-conference nod. She wrapped up the season with a .337 batting average and 72 innings pitched.
The Revolutionaries young roster of talent provides further hope for the team, with a roster dominated by underclassmen. Four freshmen were placed on the A-10 all-rookie team: outfielder Paige Heyward, pitcher Sophia Torreso, infielder Mandy Lauth and utility pitcher Cece Smith.
Smith finished with 12 wins on the season, the fourth-most in the conference. Her ERA was also the lowest on the team in her freshman year, ending the season with a 2.59.
Senior utility and 2022 A-10 Player of the Year Alexa Williams netted 37 RBIs this year and finished the season with a .341 batting average. She made the all-conference second team this year as well as the all-academic team.
Graduate transfer catcher Allison Heffley was also named to the all-conference second team after joining the Revs from Harvard University this year. She finished second in the conference with 58 hits on the season, behind Dayton’s Emma Schutter with 59 hits.
Infield recruits Emi Todoroki and Kaylee Layfield will join the roster next year. The team will also return most of its production next year, with four graduating seniors and two graduate students departing the team.
