The Mountaineers’ revamped softball roster looks to do damage in the upcoming 2025 season. More than half of the Black and Gold’s players from last season are gone, and along with a change in the head coach position, App State looks like a brand-new ball club.
The Black and Gold march into 2025 led by new head coach, Whitney Jones. Jones was brought in during the offseason, following the departure of former head coach Shelly Hoerner.
Prior to signing with App State, Jones spent time working on the University of Washington and the University of Central Florida coaching staffs. Her most recent stint was with Ohio State University, where she served as an associate head coach last season.
“We’re growing, we’re getting better, we’re bought in,” Jones said. “It’s going to look like a prepared, confident unit.”
Sophomore infielder Grace Barrett will be looked upon to shoulder a big portion of the App State offense. With Kayt Houston and Peyton Darnell having graduated, Barrett is the returning Mountaineer with the most runs batted in from 2024.
Barrett started all 51 games last season as a freshman, batting .324 and posting 56 hits, the 10th most in program history, along with 67 putouts on defense.
Alongside Barrett, the App State infield will see senior Olivia Cook, junior Ambry Lucas and sophomore Macy Hamby return to the diamond this season.
Cook started 42 games at third base last season, recording 31 putouts and 80 assists to complement her .304 on base percentage.
Lucas appeared in 27 games in her sophomore year, posting a batting average of .346 and a fielding percentage of .973.
Fielding percentage measures how well a player handles a ball batted or thrown their way by diving putouts and assists by overall chances.
Hamby started 17 games in her freshman season, possessing a batting average of .269, and a fielding percentage of .974 with 14 putouts.
Junior Makayla McClain will join App State’s infield via the transfer portal. McClain spent her previous two seasons at Campbell University where she won two conference championships.
First base freshman Madison McIntyre evens out the infield. McIntyre comes in from Green High School in Mount Juliet, Tennessee, where she batted .367 and notched 8 longballs her junior year.
With Darnell being the starting catcher in 2024, the Black and Gold have four possible candidates to fill the void left at her position: junior Marti Henkel, freshman Leah Gore, sophomore Brooke Kennerly and junior Riley Becker.
The Mountaineers added Henkel via the transfer portal. She spent her first two seasons at Bowling Green where she posted a .951 fielding percentage and a .348 on base percentage in 2024.
Gore is the only freshman listed as a catcher for App State. Gore spent her last four years at Middle Creek High School, where she notched a .714 batting average, including 6 home runs, in her senior year.
Kennerly returns to the team after starting in 17 games and posting a .231 batting average in her freshman season.
Becker saw action in 22 games last season, recording thre
e starts and numerous pinch hitting opportunities.
With four App State pitchers departing from the team this offseason, the Mountaineer pitching rotation will look drastically different in 2025. Former starting pitchers Delani Buckner and Kaylie Northrop both graduated, leaving senior Sejal Neas as the only returning starter. Neas led the team with 10 wins and 116 strikeouts, while maintaining a 3.54 earned run average last season.
Sophomore Ava Beamesderfer is the only returning relief pitcher following sophomores Jenna Samuel and Alannah Hopkins parting ways with the team. Beamesderfer posted an earned run average of 10.5 in her freshman season. Coming in with a year of experience as a Mountaineer, Beamesderfer could see more playing time in 2025 after only taking the mound for 6.2 total innings last season.
Junior Sophie Moshos is App State’s only pitching rotation addition to join via the transfer portal. Moshos comes in from Transylvania University where she started 44 games for the Pioneers in two years. She posted a 1.26 earned run average, and struck out 181 batters in 2024.
The Black and Gold’s remaining pitching slots are occupied by freshman Mollie Bulla and Bel Varadi. Bulla posted a 14-0 record in her high school senior year, while Varadi had an overall high school earned run average of 0.65.
Sophomore Jaylee Williams is the only returning outfielder of the five who suited up for the Mountaineers in 2024. Williams could have a bigger impact in 2025 after only playing in one game last season.
The other outfielder listed for the Black and Gold is freshman Julia Girk. Girk comes in from Parish Community High School, where she posted a .493 career batting average.
The Black and Gold begin their season against Southern Illinois at 11 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 7. This team will strive for success and to improve upon the 21-30 record from 2024.
