Though the Case Western Reserve University softball team will be losing its most decorated class of seniors in program history, the Spartans are looking to continue their run of success heading into the 2026 season which starts on Friday in Washington, D.C.
Last season, CWRU hosted one of the 16 four-team regionals during the first rounds of the NCAA Division III Softball Championship for the fourth consecutive year. The Spartans finished the campaign with an overall record of 30-12, falling to Wisconsin-Whitewater in the regional final.
Despite losing six players, including five starters, to graduation, the squad will return 12 players from last year's team. Junior infielder Karen Potts is a two-time All-University Athletic Association honoree and is expected to be the team's starting shortstop for the third year in a row. Senior infielder Elizabeth Berry, who has started all but three games since the start of the 2023 campaign, earned All-NCAA Cleveland Regional Tournament Team honors last year during the postseason and was an All-Region and All-UAA selection during her sophomore season.
Head Coach Josie Henry, entering her 16th season in charge of the Spartans, added 10 new players in their first year of collegiate softball: catchers Sophia Becker and Maddie Benedict, infielders Natalie Ching, Abby Howard, and Nicole Vazquez, outfielders Sierra Ejercito and Violette Tuma, pitchers Josephine Alspaw and Camryn Mclelland, and utility player Elle Sexton.
Pitchers
Case Western Reserve will be without two of its best pitchers in program history for the first time since 2021, losing Lexi Miskey and Kylie Hosey to graduation. Senior Devanghi Misra is the most experienced hurler on the squad, posting a career 2.77 earned run average across 30 and one-third collegiate innings with a 2-1 record and one save. Sophomore Laura Meoli made four appearances in the circle last season, totaling four innings of one-run ball. She also had three hits, including a home run, in nine at-bats. Fans should expect to see Alspaw and Mclelland toeing the rubber this season as well for the Spartans.
Infielders
The left side of the CWRU infield should feature familiar faces in Potts and Berry. Potts was the conference's Rookie of the Year in 2024 and an All-UAA Second Team selection last year. She has a .390 career batting average, .478 career on-base percentage, and .599 career slugging percentage with 10 home runs, 97 runs scored, and 33 stolen bases. Berry enters the campaign with a career .313 batting average, 58 runs scored, and 69 runs batted in.
Junior Kaelyn Zusi is another returning corner infielder, hitting .202 across 84 career at-bats for the Spartans with a .333 on-base percentage. She has yet to commit an error in the field.
Benedict, Ching, Howard, and Vazquez are expected to compete for time on the dirt at the keystone and first base.
Outfielders
The Spartans return five experienced outfielders who all saw action during the 2025 season. Junior Nylah Durham started all 42 games last year in center field and has appeared in 91 contests, batting .220 with 31 stolen bases out of the number nine position. Junior Alaina Steffes appeared in 37 contests in 2025 in the corners and as the designated player, making 18 starts. In 72 career games, she has a .277 batting average, .491 slugging percentage, and 23 RBI in 112 at-bats. Sophomores Ashley Miller and Kate Coonan made significant contributions at the corners last season during their first year of collegiate softball. Miller hit .318 in 66 at-bats and Coonan started 34 contests. Senior Tara Fritscher has played in 60 games since 2023 and made two starts last year.
Ejercito and Tuma will also via for playing time on the outfield grass with Mclelland as another potential outfielder for the Spartans.
Catchers
Katelyn Lamm was a staple behind the dash for the last two seasons for CWRU, starting 89 of the team's 91 previous games at catcher before she graduated. Steffes, who made one appearance at the position during her first year with the team, and sophomore Riley Williams, who caught three times last year, are the most likely to start the season receiving pitches. Sophomore Lacey Lara hit .270 last year with a .370 on-base percentage in 34 games, including 26 starts. She was a catcher in high school but only appeared as the team's designated player in 2025.
Becker and Benedict could also see time behind the plate for the Spartans during the 2026 campaign.
Coaching Staff
Henry has compiled a 401-191 (.677) record as the head coach of the Spartans, leading the team to the postseason five times and the finals of the NCAA Championship twice. CWRU has won the UAA four times under Henry's tutelage.
Roni Lipinski joined CWRU in August as the team's full-time assistant coach. She was a successful head coach at the high school level over the last four years, leading Seneca High School and Fairview High School in northwestern Pennsylvania. Lipinski played for years at Division II Edinboro University from 2017-20.
Former players Ashley Parello (11th season), Kylie Hosey (first season), Jenna Jaklich  (first season), and Isabella Russo (first season) will also assist with coaching duties in 2026.
Schedule
The Spartans will start the 2026 campaign with a trip to our nation's capital, facing host Catholic and Roanoke for two games each across the opening weekend. The team will take its spring break trip to Central Florida for THE Spring Games from March 8-13, playing 10 games in the Sunshine State. Top opponents for CWRU include sixth-ranked Rowan (March 13), 12th-ranked Moravian (March 9), and 14th-ranked Belhaven (March 12). Lake Forest (March 8), Alfred (March 8), and Husson (March 13) all made the NCAA Tournament last season as well.
Case Western Reserve opens conference play with a visit from 24th-ranked WashU, the defending league champion. The three-game series takes place on March 20 and 21. The Spartans will then play six non-conference games with a trip to Denison followed by home doubleheaders against Muskingum (March 28) and Mount Union (March 29).
The team resumes league play with a three-game home series against 15th-ranked Emory on April 3 and 4. The Spartans will make trips to NYU and Chicago over the next two weeks before returning home for the final time for a three-game series with Brandeis on April 24 and 25. The squad's last non-conference doubleheader is scheduled for May 2 at Baldwin Wallace before the team wraps up conference play with three games against Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh.
The NCAA Tournament begins with the four-team double-elimination Regional Round from May 14-16 on campus sites. The best-of-three Super Regional Round follows on May 21 and 22 on campus sites with the eight remaining teams heading to Salem, Virginia, for the NCAA Championship from May 28-June 3. The City of Salem and the Old Dominion Athletic Conference are serving as hosts for the 2026 championship round.
