Season Preview: Softball

About The 2026 Cardinals

Season in Review: In 2026, the St. John Fisher softball team will look to climb back to the top of the Empire 8 and win its sixth conference championship in nine seasons. The Cardinals continued their winning ways in 2025, finishing with a 29-15 overall record and an 18-4 record in conference play. 

Fisher earned a multitude of postseason awards a year ago, including three major accomplishments. Outfielder Emily McManus was named the Empire 8 Player of the Year, pitcher Ainsley Evanetski was named Pitcher of the Year, and head coach Bari Mance and her coaching staff were given the conference’s Coaching Staff of the Year title. In addition, seven Cardinals were named to All-Empire 8 teams, with Evanetski, McManus and catcher Mari Spitz named to the first team, first baseman Taylor Shackleton and shortstop Amalia DeMartino named to the second team, and pitcher Cassidy Ormond and outfielder Maddie Donlin named to the third team. 

Outside of the conference, Evanetski and McManus were recognized as first-team All-Region III members by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association. This was the second season in a row that McManus earned NFCA All-Region honors. The now-junior slugger finished off her trophy cabinet for one of the best seasons in program history when she was named a third-team All-American by NFCA, Fisher’s 12th All-American in program history.

Head Coach: Bari Mance (13th Season)

Assistant Coaches: Renee Smith, Erinn Camp, Rick Consaul

2025 Graduated Players: Amalia DeMartino, Katie Mannis, Ainsley Evanetski, Cassidy Evanetski, Cassidy Ormond, Liv Godley, Maddie Donlin, Tori LoPresto, Marion Leskovar, Maddie Herdlein, Mari Spitz

2025 Statistical Leaders (Position Players): Batting Average (Emily McManus, .445), On-Base Plus Slugging (Emily McManus, 1.442), Hits (Emily McManus, 53), Home Runs (Emily McManus, 15), Runs Scored (Emily McManus, 45), Runs Batted In (Mari Spitz, 51), Stolen Bases (Madi Rose, 12)

2025 Statistical Leaders (Pitchers): Earned Run Average (Ainsley Evanetski, 2.45), Walks + Hits Per Inning (Ainsley Evanetski, 1.16), Wins (Ainsley Evanetski, 14), Shutouts (Ainsley Evanetski, 3), Strikeouts (Ainsley Evanetski, 173)

Returning Players: Catelin Couillard (So., INF), Maddy Schubach (So., INF), Julia Hollister (So., INF/C), Madi Rose (Sr., INF), Leah Fron (Sr., INF), Isabella Mahar (Sr., UTL), Gracie Curella (Sr., OF), Alyssa Dawson (Jr., OF), Rachel Stabler (Jr., OF), Taylor Shackleton (Jr., INF), Molly Kuhn (Jr., P), CC Holmes (Jr., P), Hallie Lorimer (Sr., OF/P), Gianna DiNardo (Jr., UTL), Emily McManus (Jr., OF)

Freshmen: Elyse Zarzycki (Fr., OF), Lauren Policare (Fr., P), Sydney Medeiros (Fr., INF), Kate Middendorf (Fr., UTL), Ayla Terpening (Fr., P/INF), Natalie Casale (Fr., C/OF), Lexi Hamilton (Fr., P)

Numbers And Notes To Know

• The Cardinals have taken part in the Empire 8 championship game for the last 10 consecutive seasons, and 19 times since 2002. They have won 11 championships during that time.
• Fisher will open their 2026 season in Clermont, FL, against Emmanuel College on Sunday, March 1, at 1:30 p.m. This will kick off a week-long trip during which the Cardinals will play 10 games.
• The Cardinals open conference play on the road at Houghton University on Saturday, March 28 at 1 p.m.
• Fisher’s program record books will be on watch yet again in 2026, as McManus will look to upend her own program record of 15 home runs that she set a season ago. She also came within two total bases of setting a second program record (110), and within eight runs scored (53). 
• The Cardinals have had a winning record in Empire 8 conference play every season since 2015, winning at least 14 conference games in six of those seasons.

Batters To Watch

The Cardinals boast arguably the top slugger in the conference and one of the best in the nation in McManus, who had a historic 2025 season. She set Fisher's single-season home runs record, smacking 15 long balls while playing in all 44 of the Cardinals' games. The 2025 Empire 8 Offensive Player of the Year also led Fisher and set career highs in batting average (.445), hits (53), slugging percentage (.908) and walks taken (25). She finished with a career-best 44 RBI, second on the team behind senior Mari Spitz, who knocked in a single-season program record 51 runs. 

McManus enters her junior year with a slashline of .430 (avg)/.529 (obp)/.877(slg) with 101 total hits, including 21 doubles and 28 home runs, the fourth most in program history. She has driven in 84 runs. 

Junior infielder Taylor Shackleton and senior infielder Madi Rose will help bolster Fisher’s lineup. Last year, Shackleton batted .321 and set career highs in doubles (11), home runs (5) and RBI (35), while Rose anchored the leadoff spot with a .290 average, 36 runs scored and a team-best 12 stolen bases. Rose, who has played and started in 123 career games, needs 10 stolen bases this year to pass Julia Sortisio (39 from 2016-19) for the program record. 

The Cardinals also expect junior outfielder/pitcher CC Holmes to make a significant impact after missing all of last season with an injury. She slashed .300/.358/.500 with 16 hits, including two triples, a double and a homer, with 11 RBI as a freshman in 2024. 

Others expected to contribute include senior infielder Leah Fron, senior catcher Isabella Mahar and sophomore infielder Maddy Schubach. All three players made the most of their limited action last season, posting batting averages over .300. Mahar had three hits in nine plate appearances, all of them home runs.

Fielders To Watch

Rose will return to anchor the Cardinals’ infield defense a season after recording a perfect fielding percentage with zero errors on 75 chances. She will be joined on the infield dirt by Shackleton, who recorded 179 putouts at first base in 2025. 

Schubach, expected to start at shortstop, had two putouts and one assist last season. Fron has three career assists and a putout while mostly playing third base. 

McManus, who plays left field, has 49 putouts, four assists and just two errors over the last two seasons.

Pitchers To Watch

The Cardinals graduated three out of their four pitchers that appeared a season ago, totaling 242 out of the team’s 274 innings pitched (88%). Shouldering the bulk of the load will be junior Molly Kuhn, senior Hallie Lorimer and Holmes. 

Kuhn is the only returning Cardinal who pitched last season, chipping in 32 innings pitched to increase her career total to 45.2. She tallied 11.1 IP in conference play, striking out nine batters while only allowing seven earned runs. 

Holmes pitched 23 innings and psoted 3.04 ERA in 2024, collecting two wins and one save while striking out 13 batters.