On May 13, 2023, Marist softball won their fourth MAAC conference championship in school history. Months later, on Dec. 2, the championship team assembled one last time at McCann Arena for their ring ceremony.
The graduating softball class had dispersed all over the country, yet came back to Poughkeepsie with their families for a special night. Without missing a beat, the team shared many laughs and relived their favorite memories while being recognized one final time for the special feat they accomplished together.
“I could personally say I’ve never been prouder for anything in my entire life. It was a super surreal moment and that’s something I’m striving towards again this year,” said graduate student pitcher captain Kiley Myers.
This Friday, the 2024 roster will take to the field in Abilene, Texas to begin their title defense and embrace any challenges that lie ahead.
Rather than being the hunter like in years past, the Red Foxes have become the hunted, evidenced by receiving 118 points out of 121 total possible points in the MAAC preseason poll – including eight of the 11 first-place votes.
“I call it swag… [we] walk in saying, ‘hey, we’re a champion, let’s play like a champion,’” said three-time MAAC Coach of the Year Joe Ausanio.
Ausanio, entering his 16th season as the Red Foxes’ head coach, helms an experienced roster with 11 returners from last year’s championship team.
Of those 11 returners, four earned Preseason All-MAAC honors this season. The four selected – including Myers, senior utility captain Miah McDonald, junior pitcher/utility Maddie Pleasants and redshirt sophomore shortstop Haley Ahr – were the most Preseason All-MAAC selections for a single school this season.
Pleasants, who is the reigning MAAC Player of the Year, was also recognized as this season’s MAAC Preseason Player of the Year. She hopes to build upon an outstanding 2023 season where she anchored the middle of the Marist lineup with a .340/.450/.574 slash line. Her nine home runs and 45 RBI both ranked second in the MAAC, and she tallied an OPS of 1.024.
While Pleasants had an incredible 2023 season, Ausanio believes she will be even better this season, but not just because of her offensive abilities. Ausanio originally recruited Pleasants to be a pitcher, but her offensive abilities have stolen the show throughout her collegiate career. That is, until now.
“I think the way Maddie [Pleasants] has been throwing right now, she’s starting to show those flashes of brilliance [of] what we recruited her [for]… she has the ability to be the best pitcher in the conference, she’s that good,” said Ausanio. “They really haven’t got to see much of her on the mound because we’ve had Calista [Phippen] and Kiley [Myers]. I think this year is going to be a breakout year for her. When she throws strikes, she’s electric.”
Playing behind Pleasants and the rest of the pitching staff this year is a five-tool utility player and senior captain in McDonald. Even without touching the field last season due to injury, McDonald still made the 2024 Preseason All-MAAC team, a clear display of the career .345 AVG (third all-time in Marist program history) hitter’s abilities.
“When you have an athlete the caliber of Miah [McDonald], to have her back is a coach’s dream… She can run, she can hit, she hit for power, she has a great arm and she might be one of the best defensive players in the conference,” said Ausanio. “The fact that we won it last year without her just makes me even more excited because she is a difference-maker for us.”
McDonald will primarily occupy the hot corner at third base; she believes she is ready to go after her extended absence.
“I feel like being injured last year gave me another perspective, it personally made me grow as a player and increased my leadership for [my teammates],” said McDonald. “I honestly just want to be out there for my team. We are very close and I’m very excited to be out there to play behind my pitchers and my teammates.”
Joining McDonald in the infield at shortstop will be Ahr, the former MAAC Rookie of the Year. Ahr broke out after missing her freshman year due to injury; she proceeded to hit .379 to go along with three home runs, 18 doubles (ranked 14th nationally), 49 RBIs and 16-for-19 in stolen base attempts. Ahr made plenty of contributions in the field last season at shortstop and second base with 143 putouts and 89 assists, proving to be a reliable force offensively and defensively.
Ahr is joined by freshman infielder Samantha Rogers, the 2023 Connecticut High School Coaches Association Position Player of the Year. When Ahr slides over to second base, Rogers is expected to play shortstop.
The right side of the infield will likely consist of a combination of senior utility captain Alyssa Grupp, junior infielder and versatile defender Ronni Howard at second base along with a combination of Pleasants and junior utility and reliable defender Maddie Gore at first base.
Despite a large number of returning players, Grupp is one of only four upperclassmen on this team. The utility player started in 56 of 57 games last season, and she will see time in both the infield and outfield as needed.
Coming off a MAAC All-Championship Team appearance, a .319/.378/.368 slash line and a perfect 17-17 performance on the basepaths, she is now also embracing a leadership role.
“We’re ready to hit the ground running,” said Grupp. “I feel like the seniors and upperclassmen before me have prepped me for this moment to where I can become the leader, teammate and person I can be for the underclassmen… I’ve realized over the past four years you’re gonna have ups and downs on the field, but it’s the character that you show each day that they’re going to remember you by.”
While inserting McDonald back into the lineup with Grupp, Ahr and Pleasants will boost the Marist offense, the team’s pitching staff must contend with the departure of pitcher Calista Phippen.
Capping off her career by becoming the 2023 MAAC Student-Athlete of the Year, Phippen’s career in the circle ended with a career 2.56 ERA while tallying 559 innings pitched, 548 strikeouts, 53 wins and 58 complete games (all of which are top five in program history).
Despite having big shoes to fill, Myers, the 2023 MAAC tournament MVP, will do everything she can to lead the pitching staff this season.
“I think last year during the MAAC tournament, [Phippen] getting injured was an eye-opener for what it would be like without her,” said Myers. “Losing her is sad, it’s gonna be hard, but I think she helped me be prepared for this role.”
Newly joining the pitching staff is junior pitcher Isabella Milazzo. The 5-foot 6-inch right-hander is one of two transfers joining Marist this season.
Milazzo pitched for the College of Saint Rose, a Division II program, in 2023, posting a 3.61 ERA in 87 innings pitched. Her strikeout total (88) eclipsed her total innings last season, yet she will need to improve her control after walking 47 batters. While not overpowering like her counterparts, Milazzo creates lots of spin on her ball, allowing her to generate swings and misses. While her high spin rate might have contributed to her control issues, the staff anticipates Milazzo will locate her pitches with increased precision this season.
Rounding out the staff are freshman pitcher Stella Blanchard and freshman pitcher/outfielder Anna Sidlowski. Blanchard, a Southington, CT native, was the 2023 Gatorade Connecticut Softball Player of the Year. The 6-foot pitcher posted a 14-0 record in the circle with a 0.00 ERA through 25 games. Sidlowski grew up in Chadds Ford, PA, and was the All-Delco Softball Player of the Year following a senior year where she had four no-hitters, two perfect games and posted a 0.99 ERA.
Catching the staff will be sophomore catcher/utility Isabella Manory and freshman catcher Rowan Drew. Manory will serve as the primary catcher after starting in 38 of 46 games played last season. The sophomore had a .238 AVG, but her elite .442 OBP ranked sixth in the MAAC. Boasting a 1.000 fielding percentage, Manory offers a steady defensive presence behind the dish.
The last member of the freshman class is outfielder Taylor Anderson. Anderson, who hails from Lawrenceville, GA, is a Gwinniett Defensive Player of the Year award winner and holds her high school’s single-season steals record.
“I have the utmost confidence and faith in them that they’re going to be huge additions to the team,” said Grupp of the freshman class. “They play hard, they play fast, they play great and I think it definitely resembles the team that we had from last year.”
The final new addition to the roster is graduate student outfielder Sophia Recrosio. Recrosio is a foe turned friend, transferring in from Canisius College, the team Marist faced in the MAAC championship game.
Recrosio possesses a notable resume as a former MAAC All-Championship Team member and career .285 AVG hitter with just 18 strikeouts in 221 career at-bats. Defensively, Recrosio has only made 2 career errors.
“Sophia brings a championship mindset. Canisius has been very successful in the conference as well, so she’s been there… she’s gonna be a big help to us,” said Ausanio. “She’s a contact hitter who puts the ball in play. We’re probably looking at hitting her nine right now as somebody with experience down there that can turn the lineup over and get that top of the lineup up as many times as we can.”
At the top of the lineup, Marist fans can expect to see sophomore outfielder Peyton Pusey’s name penciled in. An All-MAAC Second and Rookie Teamer, Pusey specializes in getting on base, hitting .339/.406/.433 last season. Like many on this roster, she can cause chaos on the basepaths (21 stolen bases in 2023) and plays clean defense, evidenced by her 1.000 fielding percentage.
The initial test for this team will be playing in five tournaments to open the season, as they will rack up plenty of frequent flyer miles in the process.
They kick off the season in Abilene, TX while also traveling to Boiling Springs, NC, Norfolk, VA, Jacksonville, FL and Moraga, CA for the rest of their tournaments.
“I know we’re super strong and we have really good team chemistry. We all have each other’s back and we’re holding each other to high standards to play at our best. We’re there for each other to pick each other up and get to the finish line, which would be the championship again,” said Myers.
The confidence level is high coming into the season as the team hangs their hats on battling tough competition last year, including multiple SEC schools, to go along with the MAAC championship experience.
“It was a whirlwind of emotions [last season] going through the highs and lows but having it all come together at the right time, it’s not where you start, it’s where you finish,” said Grupp. “So having it all come together was the perfect storyline, you couldn’t have written it any better for us.”
First pitch is scheduled for Feb. 16 at 11 a.m. EST when Marist takes on Houston Christian. After tournament play, MAAC play begins against Quinnipiac on Sat. March 23.
Edited by Luke Sassa
Graphic by Jaylen Rizzo; Photos from Marist Athletics via Stockton Photo
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