Softball (17–0) closed out a historic regular season with three decisive wins, 9–0 facing Mount Saint Charles Academy, 10–2 versus Lawrence Academy (Lawrence), and 8–0 against Cushing. This undefeated run was powered by dominant pitching and a strong offense. With the postseason ahead, Andover looks to carry its momentum to defend its Big East title.
On Friday, Softball made quick work of Mount Saint Charles Academy with a decisive defensive performance from Co-Captain Ashley Schuman ’27, striking out 14 batters over 7 innings en route to a no hitter. Complimenting this feat, Co-Captain Rihana Gomez ’26 and Victoria MacKenzie ’28 both contributed three runs batted in, a pair of hits, and a homerun apiece to the handling of Mt. St. Charles. Sierra Lee ’28 highlighted Schuman’s performance as the anchor of the game.
“Our Captain Ashley Schuman pitched the whole game. She threw a no-hit shutout, and not a lot of people can throw no hitters, so that was really impressive. No one on the team was able to get a hit on her at all. It was a really quick game, she was really dominant on the mound.” said Lee.
Playing Lawrence on Saturday, Softball started the game slow, but that start was quickly flipped as Andover found its rhythm on offense. Gaby Potter ’27 went a perfect 4-for-4, while home runs from Audrey Gotha ’28 and Victoria MacKenzie ’28 swung the momentum towards Andover. Head Coach Karen Douyon noted that Lawrence had initially made the cautious decision to walk MacKenzie, a move that was emphasized with Mackenzie’s successful at-bat later down the stretch.
“Lawrence opened the game and intentionally walked Victoria MacKenzie, but then later in the game, Victoria hit a huge home run. We have a saying in the dug out, ‘big dawgs gotta eat,’ like you better be afraid of Victoria. That moment was super exciting,” said Douyon.
On Wednesday, complementing another perfect defensive performance, Gomez hit two homeruns, further cementing herself into Softball history with the most home runs in a season. Lee commented on Gomez’s dominance, with her game-changing plays becoming common occurrences.
“In the first inning, Audrey Gotha was on base, and Rihana goes up and just crushes a changeup way over the fence. She’s really playing her own game at this point, just destroying the school record and setting new records. Whenever she goes up to bat, we always know something fun is going to happen. Then later that game, she hit another homerun. It was crazy. She’s a beast. We just expect it at this point,” said Lee.
With the regular season complete, Softball will look towards the Big East Tournament, as it hopes to defend its crown. Coming into the final stretch, Andover hopes to conclude its remarkable undefeated season with this final tournament victory. MacKenzie stressed the need to continue playing its game in a dominant way.
“With us being the [first] seed, we’re expecting to come in hot. We’re going to face some good competition, so [we have got to] get our bats out early, be strong in the field, and can’t be too cocky. We just [have got to] come out strong, play our game, play how we do, and we should be fine,” said MacKenzie.
Softball will play its first game of the Big East Tournament against Phillips Exeter Academy (Exeter) on Saturday.
