Clearwater, Florida

A day after knocking off the NJCAA #3 Northwest Florida Raiders, the Saints squared off for the NJCAA South Atlantic District B title verus the Chipola Indians.  Both teams are ranked in the top twenty five in the nation and the contest intensity was reflective of a top twenty NJCAA match up.  Both teams were playing for the second automatic seed from the South Atlantic District and Chipola came out victorious winning 5-1.  Through two innings both teams stymied one another with smothering defense and stellar pitching.  Neither team would give the other anything for free.  In the top of three the Indians got their bats going and were able push three across and yet the Saints answered back to get one run scored after the bottom of three making the score 3-1 Chipola.  Two more innings of scoreless softball would come next until theMtop of the sixth when Chipola was able to get another run in.  The Saints could not get the bats going and remained scoreless.  They did have 8 hits on the day with Karris Rhine and Olivia LaMeau earning two hits apiece.  Madison Conway and LaMeau both had a double in the game.  Ryleigh Bauer and Ryleigh Bennett shared duties in the circle for the Saints and together struck out eight but it wasn't enough as the hot bats of Santa Fe could not get anything going.  

The Saints played well in their final 20 games of the season going 14-6 with their only loses coming at the hands of NJCAA top twenty opponents.  The Saints also were able to knock off #6 Seminole and #1 Florida SouthWestern during that same stretch.  Essentially the Saints finished as the runner up to the South Atlantic District B Champion who was runner up to the South Atlantic Distric A Champion.  This is the first time since 2013 that the Saints have won more games at the FCSAA Divsion I Softball Championships than they have lost.  The Saints went three and two at the Eddie C. Moore complex during the tournament.  The Saints also had multiple players earn FCSAA Division Softball Championship All-Tournament for their efforts.  Center fielder, Karris Rhine, who dazzled with her diving catches and over the shoulder grabs all tournament was also a heavy hitter for the Saints.  She had 5 hits and 5 RBI's in the four days of work over five games.  Madison Conway continued her excellence at the plate as she had 6 hits and 6 RBI's.  Conway also had two booming homeruns balls that positioned the Saints for victory in games versus Gulf Coast and Eastern Florida.  Camryn VanGalder rounded out the Saints chosen as all-tournament as she earned 6 hits as well over the tournament.  

The Saints will await the NJCAA selection committee to find out if they have done enough to earn an at large bid to Yuma, Arizona where the NJCAA Division I Softball World Series is held May 19th-24th.  For all information regarding the 2025 NJCAA Division I Softball World Series please click here.