The Saint Mary’s softball team is back in full swing under head coach Jordyn Walter, who last season took over for co-head coaches Cassie and Jamie Young. Last season, Walter led the team to a 10-20 season and finished eighth in the MIAA with a 4-12 conference record. As the new season begins, Walter may find some challenges because, similar to last season, she has an extremely young team with only four juniors and one senior.
Despite this, Walter brings back a lot of talent to the 2026 team, especially among the team captains. Kicking it off is junior outfielder and catcher Allie Moss. Having transferred from Trine, Moss is used to the ways of Division III competition, although last season, she did not play due to injury. While at Trine as a freshman, Moss appeared in 20 games for the Thunder as a pinch runner, scoring 11 runs on the season.
Next up is sophomore Talia Jorgensen. As a second baseman and outfielder appearing in 28 games, Jorgensen finished her freshman season with a team best of 40 hits, drove in 16 runs, scored a team-best of 15 runs and, in total, tallied six doubles, three triples and a home run. Jorgensen is equally as strong on defense as she is on offense. On the field, Jorgensen has a .913 fielding percentage with 59 putouts and 35 assists. At the end of the season, Jorgensen was announced to the first team All-MIAA.
In her second year as a team captain, Sam Mikitka is the sole senior pitcher and first baseman for the 2026 season. Mikitka has been on the front lines competing in nearly all of the games over her three seasons so far at Saint Mary’s. In her junior season, Mikitka appeared in 27 games, recording high numbers for the Belles. On the mound, she made 15 appearances, leading the team with 35 innings pitched, 33 strikeouts and recorded an ERA of 7.03. In the box, the righty looked equally as strong. Mikitka finished the 2025 season driving in eight runs, scoring eight herself and recording three doubles.
This season, rather than waiting until the annual spring break tournament, the Belles will start their season earlier than normal. Their first game will be a Valentine’s Day doubleheader against Goshen, with game one starting at noon and game two set to start at 2 p.m. The team will then head to the Earlham Invite on Feb. 28 and compete against Earlham and Elmhurst over the weekend.
