Saints Softball Opens GNAC Tournament Pod Play on Thursday vs. Simmons, Hosted at Lasell

BOSTON – Emmanuel Softball opens up the 2024 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Postseason as the No. 2 seed in the North Division and, in the newly formatted postseason, starts play in Pod B on Thursday afternoon against the No. 3 North-seeded Simmons Sharks, hosted by Lasell University at 4:30 p.m.

In the newly formed pod-play format, eight teams are split into two groups of four. From those two groups, Pod A and Pod B, a double-elimination tournament takes place with the winners from both pods facing off in a three-game series for the GNAC Championship on May 10 and 11.

Pod B consists of the host team and No. 1 South seed Lasell, the No. 2 North seed Emmanuel, the No. 3 North seed Simmons, and the No. 4 South seed Albertus Magnus. In Pod A, the No. 1 North seed Saint Joseph's College hosts the No. 2 South seed Mitchell, the No. 3 South seed Johnson & Wales, and the No. 5 North seed New England College.

The Saints finished the season at 20-14 and are one of five teams between the two pods entering this weekend with a winning record. Their 9-3 GNAC North mark secured the No. 2 seed last weekend, putting them in Pod B play at Lasell.

Emmanuel's offense is led by a consistent middle-of-the-lineup group, starting with junior Taylor Chelak (Westborough, Mass.) who batted a team-best .395 this season. Chelak led the Saints with 45 hits and eight doubles while adding 24 RBI and three home runs, both second-best on the team.

Fellow junior Sammy Hayes (Braintree, Mass.) hit a career-best .342 in 31 games this season. The junior catcher and designated player had career-highs in hits and extra-base hits while tripling her career-high in RBIs in a season from seven in 2023 to 21 in 2024.

Senior Olivia Conti (Cranston, R.I.) holds a .327 batting average and accounted for more than half the team's home runs this season, hitting 10 homers in 34 games while leading the team with a career-high 40 RBI. Junior Abigail Farr (Windsor Locks, Conn.) hit .314 for the Saints while first-year Alexis Martineau (Merrimack, N.H.) is off to a good start in her rookie year with a .307 average.

The pitching pair of junior Madison Marks (Edgewater Park, N.J.) and sophomore Mackenzie Briggs (West Warwick, R.I.) have a claim as the best duo in GNAC play this season.

Only accounting for GNAC games, Marks went 5-3 this season but leads the conference with a 1.06 ERA and has the second-most strikeouts with 56 and second-best WHIP at 0.91. Briggs is close behind with the fourth-lowest ERA at 1.64 helped lead to a 7-0 record this year.

For Simmons, they finished their regular season with a 13-22 overall record, but with a 7-5 mark in the GNAC North, the Sharks locked down the No. 3 North seed to secure a spot in Pod B.

Junior Raya Anderson (Rollinsford, N.H.) hits a team-best .374 this season and leads the Sharks with 40 hits. Sophomore Teagan Buckley (Barrington, Ill.) follows with a .370 batting average, including 30 hits while being one of seven Sharks with at least 10 RBI.

Junior Leah Berdeen (Goffstown, N.H.) bats .308 for Simmons and leads the team with seven doubles and 14 RBI. Sophomore Emma Soule (Farmingdale, Maine) finished the season hitting .304 in 28 games.

In the pitching circle, fewer players have put in more innings than sophomore Piper Kinney (Marlborough, Mass.) this season. Across all games, Kinney has pitched 125 innings, second-most in the conference. In only GNAC play, her 66.2 innings are tied for the most in the GNAC after an in-conference record of 7-2 produced a 1.15 ERA with a conference-best 111 strikeouts and 0.90 WHIP.

The No. 1 South seed Lasell clinched hosting responsibilities after a 23-16 record, including 12-2 in the GNAC South. The Lasers and No. 2 South seed Mitchell battled for Pod B home field advantage on the final day of the season with Lasell using a walk-off win in Game 2 of a doubleheader to beat the Mariners and host Pod B.

For the hosts, senior Katie Hopkins (Garden City Park, N.Y.) was one of only eight players to bat over .400 this season, finishing the regular season hitting .412 with five doubles, five triples, and five home runs. Hopkins 33 RBI in 39 games led the Lasers this season.

Sophomore Alyssa Bland (Camden, Maine) hit .387 for Lasell, including 41 hits and 17 RBI while senior Ally Kirck (Hamden, Conn.) was close behind with a .376 average over 39 games. Graduate student Brianna Gendreau (Warren, R.I.) finished with a team-high 51 hits on the way to batting .354.

Senior Eryn Sheeley (North Haven, Conn.) is a dual-threat batter and pitcher in the Lasers lineup. At the plate, Sheeley batted .336, leading the team with 11 doubles and matching the team-high with five home runs. In the circle, against only GNAC opponents, Sheeley finished the season 4-2 with a 2.41 ERA and 50 strikeouts in 49.1 innings pitched.

Sophomore Abigail Fortin (North Smithfield, R.I.) along with Sheeley, closely matches the Saints duo of Briggs and Marks, as Fortin went 8-1 against the GNAC this season with the sixth-lowest ERA in the conference at 1.81.

Rounding out Pod B is the No. 4 South seed from Albertus Magnus, who needed a GNAC Play-In Round win over the University of Saint Joseph to reach GNAC Pod B play. The Falcons come into Thursday at 22-18 (9-5 GNAC South).

Sophomore Paige Scheid (Cedar Grove, N.J.) is one of the GNAC premier lead-off hitters, finishing this season with the fourth-highest average in the GNAC at .433. Scheid had a conference-best 58 hits with only 10 going for extra bases.

Junior Skylar Arent (Ridgefield, Conn.) finished the regular season hitting .340 in 36 games and is one of three Falcons with a home run this season while she added seven doubles and two triples. Arent can make an impact in the pitching circle too after going 4-2 this season with a 1.85 ERA in 45.1 innings against GNAC opponents.

Juniors Amanda Savinelli (New Haven, Conn.) and Colleen Edwards (Clinton, Conn.) batted .304 and .302, respectively for Albertus Magnus this year. Edwards brings 32 hits and a team-high four triples into Pod B play. Grad student Hailey Laforte (Branford, Conn.) finished the year batting .300, playing all 40 games, while adding 36 hits and a team-high 27 RBI.

Pod B play opens on Thursday, May 2, at 2:00 p.m. between Lasell and Albertus Magnus. The Lasers swept the Falcons on April 27 at Albertus Magnus. The game to follow will feature the Saints and Sharks at 4:30 p.m. Emmanuel swept Simmons in a doubleheader on April 24 in a pair of two-run wins at Daly Field in Brighton, Mass.

THURSDAY, MAY 2 – ALL GAMES ARE HOSTED AT LASELL
Game 1: Albertus Magnus vs. Lasell – 2:00 p.m.
Game 2: Simmons vs. Emmanuel – 4:30 p.m.

SATURDAY, MAY 4 – ALL GAMES ARE HOSTED AT LASELL
Game 3: Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2 – 11:00 a.m. (Loser is eliminated)
Game 4: Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2 – 1:30 p.m. (Winner advances to Sunday Pod B Finals)
Game 5: Winner of Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 4 – 4:00 p.m. (Loser is eliminated)

SUNDAY, MAY 5 – ALL GAMES ARE HOSTED AT LASELL*
Game 6: Winner of Game 4 vs. Winner of Game 5 – 1:00 p.m.
Game 7: If necessary, a replay of Game 6 – 3:30 p.m.

*Winner of Game 4 only needs one win on Sunday to win Pod B. Winner of Game 5 needs two wins on Sunday to win Pod B.