With the near conclusion of the spring Marist athletics season and spring semester, the Center Field editorial board voted on standout players from the spring season for All-Marist team selections. Below are the results, along with some analysis from Center Field writers.
First Team Selections
Miah McDonald – Softball
Graduate student shortstop Miah McDonald led the Red Foxes to a historic season for the program and the MAAC while having a historic season of her own. Coming off a MAAC Player of the Year campaign in 2024, McDonald went back-to-back, winning the award again in 2025.
Over 56 games, McDonald flashed the leather, being a stalwart at shortstop and making highlight plays while providing offensive numbers that led her to being named one of D1Softball’s top middle-infielders in the nation.
The Red Foxes set a program record for wins, won the MAAC Championship and earned the MAAC’s first-ever three seed in an NCAA Regional Softball Tournament. During all this, McDonald hit an all-time MAAC record and nationally fourth-best 24 home runs. The shortstop also accumulated the most total bases in the nation at 174 while hitting .440/.530/.967 with 63 RBI and a 1.520 OPS.
- Aidan Lavin, softball beat writer
Jason Claiborn – Baseball
Claiborn, a graduate student, made the jump to Division I for the first time this season after spending four years at Division III Eastern Connecticut State University, where he won a national championship in 2022. Before the season, head coach Lance Ratchford said he believed Claiborn to be a candidate to help replace Ethan Conrad, the former Marist star who transferred to Wake Forest.
After being named a team captain, Claiborn has done exactly that.
Through May 11, Claiborn is hitting .328 with an .849 OPS; his .442 on-base percentage ranks in the top-20 in the MAAC while his 16 stolen bases rank in the top-15. He has a hit in nine consecutive games and 19 of his last 20 while also providing positional versatility, logging innings in both the outfield and at first base. Though it will be his only season on the field at Marist, Claiborn has undoubtedly helped soften the blow of losing both Conrad and Bayram Hot to power-five schools.
- Max Rosen, baseball beat writer
Inés Sánchez – Water Polo
Inés Sánchez continues to prove how pivotal a player she is for the Red Foxes. As the backbone of the Marist defense, Sánchez kept the Red Foxes in every game. The junior goalie finished the 2025 season with 197 saves, averaging 7.6 saves over 26 games.
In this year’s MAAC Championship semi-finals game, Sánchez led the Red Foxes to the program’s 13th MAAC championship appearance, with 13 saves over Villanova. The win brought them to face Wagner in the finals. Sánchez ended the four-point loss to the Seahawks with seven saves. Finishing the MAAC tournament on the All-MAAC Championship team.
- Cara Lacey, water polo beat writer
Collin Patrick – Men’s Lacrosse
Collin Patrick got out to a scorching hot start and never looked back. He opened his sophomore campaign with four goals and an assist versus Mercer and a hat trick of goals and assists each at Jacksonville. After that, he never dropped below three points per game. His final points per game total, 3.81, was good for 33rd in Division I.
Patrick scored a hat trick in three straight MAAC games for Marist, combining for 14 points in those three. Overall, he finished with 33 goals and 24 assists, both team highs, and 57 total points. In eight conference games, Patrick scored 17 and assisted 12, which amounts to 29 points and just under four per game.
- Ryan Eichem, men’s lacrosse beat writer
Jesse Manger – Women’s Lacrosse
Manger was the only Red Fox to finish with at least 20 goals and 20 assists, leading the team in points with 42. Her 76.1 SOG% ranks second on the team amongst players who took at least 20 shots on goal. The junior had two hat tricks this season, along with a four-game two-goal streak.
- August Lieberman, women’s lacrosse beat writer
Jose Catala – Men’s Tennis
Jose Catala had a dominant senior season on the court, winning 11 singles matches from the No. 1 position and 11 doubles matches from the No. 2 position. His singles matches featured just six losses that included a five-match winning streak lasting over a month.
In doubles matches, paired up with Gregor Heinemann, the duo won seven straight after dropping their opening two. Over three matches against Merrimack, Lafayette, and Monmouth, Catala and Heinemann won 18 games and lost just two. To finish the year, Catala was named to the All-MAAC Singles First Team.
- Ryan Eichem, Assistant Editor
Caterina Assi – Women’s Tennis
Caterina Assi, a sophomore from Argentina, led the Red Foxes to a MAAC playoff appearance with an 8-8 singles (three unfinished) record from the No. 1 position. A 6-3, 6-3 win over Mount Saint Mary’s to end the regular season helped push her team to the playoffs, where they eventually met their end against Niagara.
Assi’s double campaign featured five different partners, although that didn’t stop her from finishing 9-9. A four-game and three-game win streak carried the sophomore’s season, both of which involved multiple partners. When playing with Vihana Shresta, Assi played at a 5-5 clip. Assi and Jane Wright were 2-1 in three matches, but a limited sample size makes it hard to determine her best playing partner.
- Ryan Eichem, Assistant Editor
Amari Mathis – Men’s Track and Field
The junior sprinter had an all-time outdoor MAACs, winning gold in the 100 and 200-meter dashes en route to being named Outstanding Men’s Track Performer. He also set a school record in the 100-meter dash with a 10.33 time in the trials on Saturday.
Mathis finished second and third in the 200-meter and 100-meter races at the Rider Invitational, respectively. He also helped the Marist 4×100 team take third place.
Earlier this season, at the Fred Hardy Invitational in Richmond, VA, Mathis placed first in the 100-meter dash with a personal best of 10.73.
- Marley Pope, managing editor
Emily Litke – Women’s Track and Field
Emily Litke had a season of personal bests, advancing her 3000-meter and 3000-meter steeplechase times at multiple races this season. Her time of 10:56.36 in the 3000-meter steeplechase at the MAAC Outdoor Championships was over 40 seconds faster than her time the previous year, earning her the 100th fastest time in the nation. This time also brought home the women’s only silver medal of the Outdoor MAAC Championships.
- Caitlin Bombassei, Contributor
Second Team Selections
Maddie Pleasants – Softball
It is tough to keep up with the offensive pace of McDonald, senior pitcher and designated player Maddie Pleasants came as close as she could, all while earning MAAC Pitcher of the Year.
Pleasants provided the Marist pitching staff with a lethal 1A+ and 1A as she and graduate student Kiley Myers started 43 of the 55 games in the circle. Myers finished the year with an astounding 22-1 record and a top-10 national ERA of 1.50, making her a more than viable candidate for this list.
Pleasants finished with a 16-3 record in the circle with a 2.20 ERA and a MAAC-best .194 batting average against. Over 127 innings pitched, the senior struck out 188 batters while walking only 55. Offensively, Pleasants homered 22 times, two fewer than McDonald, but drove in more runs with 70 RBI.
Pleasants had many memorable moments throughout the season, including nine double-digit strikeout games. Her most memorable will undoubtedly be her first-inning grand slam that set the tone for a 10-2 MAAC Championship win over Siena.
- Aidan Lavin, softball beat writer
Will Taylor – Baseball
After putting up a miserable 7.91 team ERA last season, better than only Saint Peter’s, Marist emphasized fine-tuning their pitching staff heading into this season. Now, nearly through this season, their team ERA ranks second in the MAAC at 5.39, and no arm has made bigger strides, or a bigger impact, than Taylor. The redshirt sophomore southpaw has become both the Red Foxes’ ace and one of the premier arms in the MAAC; his 3.26 ERA ranks second among qualified pitchers in the conference.
Taylor does not strike out the world – he has just 55 in 69.0 innings pitched this season – but he pitches to soft contact and finds other ways to get hitters out. His ERA has shrunk by nearly five runs from over 8.00 in his debut season last year, and his walk rate is just under two per nine innings, an incredibly strong rate and a decrease from just under four last season. With a fine season nearly under his belt, Taylor is poised to bring home All-MAAC honors for the first time.
- Max Rosen, baseball beat writer
Ella Baumgarten – Water Polo
In her final season at Marist, Ella Baumgarten made a statement. The two-time captain ended the year on the All-Championship Team and the All-MAAC second team. Baumgarten averaged 2.6 goals per game, delivering a goal in the semi-finals versus Villanova and two goals in the championship game versus Wagner. As well as her offensive prowess, the center totaled eight field blocks in the regular season, finishing third in the MAAC for most field blocks.
- Cara Lacey, water polo beat writer
Steven Cain – Men’s Lacrosse
Steven Cain had a very different sophomore season compared to his first year. He played in 15 more games and made 16 more starts. Cain capitalized on those chances, scoring 23 times and assisting another 10. 15 of those 23 goals came in a streak of nine straight games to end the year. Five came in the MAAC tournament, with all the rest during that stretch (except one versus Delaware) coming in MAAC play.
Cain was a huge supplement to head coach Dave Scarcello’s offense. When Cain shot the ball on goal, .500 or better, the Red Foxes went 6-4. He also scooped up 21 ground balls and forced three turnovers in a solid second season.
- Ryan Eichem, men’s lacrosse beat writer
Anne Shine – Women’s Lacrosse
After barely playing her freshman year, Shine became an instrumental part of the Red Fox offense this year. Being relied on as a score-first attacker, Shine led the team in goals (28), shots (77) and shots on goal (52). She had the best game of any women’s lacrosse player this season against Rider, pouring in a career-high six goals as the Red Foxes posted a season-high 18 goals.
- August Lieberman, women’s lacrosse beat writer
Tomas Gomez – Men’s Tennis
Tomas Gomez had a solid season despite his team’s relatively poor performance. Ranging from the 4-6 positions in singles, Gomez went 5-7. The two highlights of his singles campaign include a 6-4, 6-4 win against Siena to end the year and a 5-7, 7-5, 1-0 (10-7) win against Army from the No. 4 position.
In doubles, usually at the 3 position and with Augustin Damonte, Gomez went 2-4 with two matches being unfinished while he was tied or in the lead. Back-to-back 6-4 wins over Niagara and Fairfield helped Gomez lead a strong MAAC campaign.
- Ryan Eichem, Assistant Editor
Cloe Clements Sorde – Women’s Tennis
Clements Sorde, a junior from Spain, played at the No. 2 singles position this spring. Going 10-7 overall and 6-6 at the 2, Clements Sorde had a great MAAC season. A 4-3 MAAC campaign after winning her previous three matches propelled the junior to stay at the No. 2 spot for Marist’s playoff match against Niagara. Clements Sorde did not finish her match, with it being called at 3-6, 5-2.
Lola Ungerman accompanied Clements Sorde on the doubles circuit, playing at the No. 1 position. The two went 5-0 to open the season and finished 7-6 overall. Clements Sorde, with Caterina Assi as her other playing partner, went 1-2, with another one being unfinished. A 9-9 doubles season from the top spot was crucial to her team’s rebound from last season’s 2-22 record.
- Ryan Eichem, Assistant Editor
Logan Schaeffler – Men’s Track and Field
The star distance freshman continued a strong debut season with a first-place finish in the 3000-meter steeplechase at the Rider Invitational, getting a personal best time of 9:18.35. Last weekend at the MAAC Championships, he earned a silver medal in the same event while moving his PR down to 9:09.35. That time qualified him for the USATF Junior Nationals later this summer in July.
- Marley Pope, managing editor
Julianna Mirabile – Women’s Track and Field
Julianna Mirabile became a powerhouse for the women this season, earning the season-best times in both the 800-meter run and the 400-meter hurdles. Mirabile’s PR of 2:15.45 in the 800-meter run puts her less than .15 of a second away from breaking the six-year-old 800-meter record. This was Mirabile’s first season racing the 400-meter hurdles for the Marist Red Foxes, but that didn’t stop her from taking home a bronze medal in the Outdoor MAAC Championships. Mirabile was also a member of the women’s 4×800 meter relay at Penn Relays that finished in 9:05.62, the second fastest time in school history.
- Caitlin Bombassei, Contributor
Third Team Selections
Haley Ahr – Softball
Redshirt junior first and second baseman Haley Ahr led the nation in batting average. Ahr battled injury early in the year but provided stellar offense and dependable defense on the right side of the infield.
Over 50 games, Ahr hit .521/.567/.790 with a 1.357 OPS and struck out a mere five times in 167 at-bats. Ahr was one of three Red Foxes with over 10 doubles and one of four with double-digit home runs. The Jersey native was a ball-in-play machine, leading the team with 87 hits and bringing in 57 RBI. She also homered 11 times while walking 16 times.
- Aidan Lavin, softball beat writer
AJ Brotz – Baseball
Brotz has enjoyed a steady season in his debut year with the Red Foxes. After spending the first two years of his career at the JUCO level with Genesee Community College – where he hit .496 and .409 in his freshman and sophomore seasons, respectively – Brotz has a .289 batting average through May 11.
Not a power hitter, Brotz relies on putting the ball in play and setting the table for the Marist lineup. He has struck out just 16 times, tied for the fifth-fewest in the MAAC.
After Brotz spent much of the season in the leadoff spot, freshman infielder Noel Rivera has moved to the leadoff spot more frequently while Brotz has hit between second and fourth in the lineup. Even with being moved around, Brotz enters play on May 13 with an eight-game hitting streak dating back to April 27.
- Max Rosen, baseball beat writer
Rachel Dean – Water Polo
Rachel Dean is an all-around player for the Red Foxes. The senior attacker ended in the top 10 on seven of the MAAC conference leaders’ lists. Dean ended her senior season with 23 assists, 72 points, 6 field blocks, a .531 sprint percentage with 17 sprint wins and an average of 2.8 points per game. Dean scored one goal and one assist in the MAAC championship game and recorded one goal and two assists in the semifinals versus Villanova. Outside of the pool, Dean received the MAAC Academic Honor Roll every year during her eligibility with a 3.9 GPA.
- Cara Lacey, water polo beat writer
Sean Mullan – Men’s Lacrosse
Mullan, the third men’s lacrosse sophomore selected, scored in 14 of the team’s 16 games. He started the year with six straight games with a goal, but even when he didn’t score, he still assisted. Back-to-back hat-tricks twice in MAAC play (Mount St.Mary’s and Canisius / Manhattan and Merrimack) as well as seven points in two playoff games made for a great follow-up to an All-MAAC Rookie Season. Mullan kept his team in the game during the MAAC semifinals, a loss to Siena, with five points.
- Ryan Eichem, men’s lacrosse beat writer
Chloe Birckhead – Women’s Lacrosse
The senior midfielder and captain was dependable for the Red Foxes all season, finishing second on the team in points with 37. She joins Jesse Manger as the only two Red Foxes with at least 20 goals and 15 assists. Birckhead heated up in MAAC contests, posting back-to-back hat tricks against Canisius and Merrimack.
- August Lieberman, women’s lacrosse beat writer
Augustin Damonte – Men’s Tennis
Damonte played a lot of tennis this spring. He went 7-7 in singles matches, usually playing around the No. 3 or 4 position. The graduate student started the year 7-2, although a five-game MAAC skid derailed what would’ve been a very successful season.
Damonte paired up with a host of doubles partners in 2025, but he mainly went with Tomas Gomez. That duo went 2-2 with an unfinished game, which were two of Damonte’s five doubles wins. Usually playing from the 3 doubles position, Damonte finished the spring doubles season at 5-7.
- Ryan Eichem, Assistant Editor
Viktoria Lorentzon – Women’s Tennis
Lorentzon is another of Marist women’s tennis’ foreign lineup as the freshman hails from Stockholm, Sweden. Lorentzon played a majority of her singles matches at the 3 position, although she did move up to No. 2 for a considerable amount of time. At the No. 3 spot, she went 6-5 with a four-game win streak to open the campaign. A 4-2 No. 2 position carried her to a 10-7 freshman season and a lot to look forward to in 2026.
Lorentzon paired up with Ellen Zureick for all but one of her doubles matches, most at the No. 3 position. An 11-5 record outside of the top position meant the Red Foxes could rely on a point more often than not from the pair. When Lorentzon and Zureick were elevated to the No. 2 position, they held their own, going 2-0 with two unfinished matches, one of them being 4-4 and the other 5-3.
- Ryan Eichem, Assistant Editor
Miles Chamberlain – Men’s Track and Field
Another freshman who’s racked up the awards/top finishes for the Red Foxes, Chamberlain earned a first-place finish in the 800-meter at the Colonial Relays. He recorded a top-10 finish in the 1500-meter race at the Bison Outdoor Classic on April 12. Both times are personal bests and program season-best times.
Chamberlain placed second in the 800-meter at Vassar before winning a silver medal in the 4×800 relay at the MAAC Championships. He also qualified for the individual 1500-meter final, finishing in seventh place.
- Marley Pope, managing editor
Adele Alexander – Women’s Track and Field
Senior Adele Alexander kept the momentum from an already successful indoor season this spring. She holds two season-best times for the women’s team in the 3000 and 5000-meter runs. Alexander broke the nine-year-old Marist 3000-meter school record with her first-place finish time of 9:49.81 at the Bison Outdoor Classic. Her PR of 17:31.60 in the 5000-meter run at Penn Relays became her second season-best time. Alexander was also a member of the 4×1500-meter relay that placed third at Colonial Relays.
- Caitlin Bombassei, Contributor
Edited by Marley Pope
Photos from Marist Athletics
For more coverage of Marist athletics, follow @cfmarist on Instagram, X, TikTok, and Bluesky. Sign up to receive daily alerts here.