Record-breaking offensive season for softball comes to an end

DEFIANCE, Ohio - The Defiance College softball team finished a record-breaking offensive year in 2021 with a sixth-place finish in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference standings. The Yellow Jackets went 16-21-1 overall on the season and 8-8 in HCAC play. Defiance nearly missed out on the HCAC tournament due to a tiebreaker with Franklin.

In 38 regular-season games, Defiance had multiple student-athletes break both single-season and career records, as well as crack the top ten in the ranks of the Defiance College record books and the HCAC leaderboard. 

Marissa Roberts finished the 2021 season with a .423 batting average, where she recorded 58 hits, 36 runs, and 11 doubles. The sophomore broke the single-season record for hits and is tied for fourth in the DC record books for runs and eighth for doubles. The outfielder ranks in the top ten of the HCAC leaders for batting average, hits, runs scored, doubles, and at-bats. 

Junior Sophie Moller recorded 32 runs batted in, which currently ranks fifth in the HCAC and ninth in the Defiance single-season records. The catcher finished the season with a .350 batting average, 41 hits, and a .427 slugging percentage.

Kalin Hubble had a standout season where she recorded a .437 batting average and tallied 55 hits, 16 doubles, nine home runs, and 45 RBIs. The Anderson, Indiana, native broke the program's single-season record for doubles (16) and RBIs (45) and sits second in the DC record books for single-season hits (55) and home runs (9). The junior also now holds the career record at Defiance for all-time home runs with 21. 

Hubble currently leads the conference in home runs and RBIs. She also is ranked in the top ten of the HCAC leaders for runs scored (35), hits, at-bats, batting average, and doubles. 

Pitcher Taylor Biggs finished in the top of the HCAC rankings for innings pitched (116.2), batters struck out (87), batters struck out looking (33), and wins (8). The senior etched her name into the Defiance career record book for innings pitched (372.1), strikeouts (167), wins (20), and saves (4).  

As a team, Defiance ended the season on a three-game winning streak and totaled a .434 winning percentage. In 1,031 at-bats, the Purple and Gold posted a .305 batting average, a .411 slugging percentage, and tallied 152 RBIs, 173 runs, and 16 home runs.  

Reflecting on the season, head coach Megan Warren said, "I'm really just grateful that we were able to play this season and got to celebrate McKenzie Baker, Erin Breece, Macy Bowling, Taylor Biggs, Hali Geraci, Jennifer Kaffenbarger, and Jen Nashalsky. This senior class has had a wild four years so it was most important for me to make sure they had a season they could enjoy and so I'm glad we were able to play for them."

Warren added, "We may not have achieved all the team goals we set this year, but we had some really great moments that we can be proud of. We had a lot of players see individual success that we can build on as we move forward, as well as many of our underclassmen getting some valuable experience."