The women’s softball team came up a hair short of a .500 record, closing out the season at 18-19 overall. 

In conference play, the Judges finished tied for second, with a commendable 6-4 record. The Judges trailed only Emory University, which went undefeated in conference play and lost a mere five games over the course of the entire season. 

The Judges fell from their spot at the top of the league last season, in which they recorded 21 wins and only 14 losses. 

However, the Judges were able to improve in their conference play, beating their measly 3-7 record from the 2014 to 2015 season. 

In the stat box, the Judges notched a .334 batting average, impressive for a team under .500. The team also surpassed their previous season in home runs, smashing 25 long balls. 

The majority of those —13 to be exact— are attributed to the bats of infielders Madison Sullivan ’16 and Liana Moss ’17, who hit seven and six, respectively. 

While offensively the Judges excelled, they had a rocky pitching rotation this season. The Judges accrued a 4.75 ERA, with no pitcher dipping below 4.50. Pitcher Melissa Soleimani ’17 allowed 1.50 hits per inning pitched, inflating her ERA and costing the Judges in close games. 

The Judges will be losing big bats in catcher Madison Gagnon ’16, catcher Danielle Novotny ’16 and Sullivan. 

Gagnon slashed a .330 batting average along with a .415 slugging percentage, bolstering the Judges prolific offense. 

Novotny tacked on even more offense with her batting .383 average and an impressive .442 slugging percentage to add. 

The trio made up a large chunk of the offense, something that will need to be filled by rising senior Moss and rising sophomore catcher Keri Lehtonen ’19. 

The two hit an unbelievable, MVP-worthy .470 and .423, respectively, as well as combining for an impressive 37 total RBIs and nine homerun shots. 

Overall, first-year coach Danielle DelPonte had a turbulent season, never winning more than three-straight games at any point in the campaign. 

The Judges lost their last three of five to drop to under .500 on year and lost twice to a New York University team that they had previously beaten twice. 

The Judges fared evenly at home, winning seven of 14 home games, but lost four of 11 games on the road. 

This year featured a different squad than last season.

In the 2015 season, the Judges finished with an impressive 21-14 overall record.

They finished up the year by taking home the Eastern College Athletic Championships with a 9-4 victory over regional competitor Albertus Magnus College. 

While this season was not as successful as the 2015 campaign, the team featured multiple bright spots along the way. 

The Judges look forward to next season and their chances to regain their spot atop the University Athletic Association conference. 

— Jerry Miller