First-Years Help Lead Softball to Success

They have 15 student-athletes on the roster, and half of them are first-years. 

There’s also two seniors and a junior on the team. Plus, last fall, a first-year utility player was converted into a pitcher to fill a gap caused by an unexpected departure, adding another much-needed arm to the roster.

Colgate Softball has battled through the first half of the season with one of the youngest rosters in the country, all while playing a tough schedule that requires traveling to warmer climates for the first seven weeks of the season.

While their opponents often have more players and more veterans, the Raiders have thrown rookies into big roles, often out of necessity. 

But that hasn’t stopped Colgate from having one of its best seasons in years, all while scoring runs in droves and hitting home runs at a historic rate. 

And the first-years are a big reason for the success.

Head coach Marissa Lamison-Myers could not have asked for a better result two months into the season. 

“It has been a tale of two different seasons so far, but I’m really proud of how they’ve performed,” she said of the rookies.

Indeed, the team has gone through a few tough losing streaks, but has also tallied big wins while putting up huge offensive numbers.

Take their recent game at Drexel, for example. 

The Raiders won 18-2. They pounded out 14 hits. They hit five home runs. 

A few days later, they kicked off Patriot League play with a three-game sweep at Lehigh. Colgate scored 26 runs and hit 11 dingers in the series. 

Now the Raiders stand at 14-15, and have achieved their first 3-0 conference start since 2012.

For the season, the Raiders have gone deep 46 times, breaking the single season Patriot League record for home runs. No one else in the conference comes close in that category.

Colgate has brought in a talented first-year group that has contributed in different ways — especially on offense. 

One of their top hitters is rookie Marina Taveras ’29, who is batting .340 with nine home runs and 25 RBI. She’s already a two-time conference rookie of the week. 

Plus, fellow rookies Kayla Martin ’29, Izzy Ervin-Agudelo ’29, and Tealla Rivera ’29 have all made an impact while looking like seasoned players. 

Ervin-Agudelo, a utility hitter from San Diego, said she knew heading into the fall that the first-years would have many opportunities to play. The experience has been challenging and rewarding, she said.

“We are happy to have so many opportunities to play,” she said. “The good thing about the first-years is we don’t necessarily feel intimidated whenever we are playing. We are all very confident. Our upperclassmen are always lifting us up. Having those veteran players has been really helpful.”

When the team reported to camp in the fall, rookie utility hitter Katie Niven ’29 — who plays outfield and second base — was asked if she could pitch. At the time, the team had only four pitchers on the roster.

Niven, a Columbus, Ohio, native with pitching experience, said she didn’t have to think twice.

“I want to help the team in any way I can, and pitching at this level has been a dream from the time I was an 8-year old,” Niven said. “All my teammates have been so supportive and I’m especially grateful to the senior pitchers on the team who have been incredible mentors and friends.”

The leadership from across the roster, including support from Colgate’s two seniors in Alexa Acker ’26 and Maya Servedio ’26 is another reason for the team’s impressive play.

Acker and Servedio are both pitchers and are accustomed to the spotlight. Stepping up as leaders has been an easy transition for the pair, Lamison-Myers said.

“In all four years, they have been asked to serve in large roles,” Lamison-Myers said. “They are not overwhelmed by their responsibilities. It’s just what they do.” 

In addition, the sophomores have played a huge role in leading the team on and off the field. As rookies, they, too, shouldered a heavy workload. The experience forced them to learn on the fly, and they rose to the challenge. 

Now they are using their experience to help this year’s rookies. 

“They have been fantastic,” Lamison-Myers said. “They look like veterans on the field. They have helped bridge the gap between our two seniors and our junior and the underclassmen.” 

Lily Haluska ’29, a second-year catcher out of Ballston Lake, N.Y., and one of the team’s top hitters, said her rookie season was overwhelming after playing so much. But it made her a better student-athlete, and now she and her second-year teammates are using their experiences to help the first-years.

“We are trying to share our experiences from last year and make sure that they know it’s still just softball,” she said. “Just go out and play. It can be intimidating. But they have done a great job adjusting.

“We are trying to do our best to be there for them. But we’re still learning, too. We are on this ride together and learning as we go.”

The Raiders had a strong fall season that included exhibition games and coaches spending time teaching the game to the team’s younger players. It has led to positive results thus far. 

In addition, the team’s revamped culture has helped lead to positive results on the field. Everyone in maroon-and-white is having fun, and it has made the journey all the more fulfilling for all. 

“The team culture is so amazing,” Ervin-Agudelo said. “I’m so grateful that I came to a team with this much support and this much love.”

And that support has also come from the coaching staff — and in more ways than just softball.

“I have never been so connected with my coaches,” Ervin-Agudelo said. “I was really sick in my first semester. But the people who were always right by my side were my coaches. I can tell they really care about us.”

The first-years have also demonstrated fearlessness and the ability to rise in big moments. And they wasted no time showing it. 

In the first inning of the first game of the season on Feb. 6, Martin — who was recently named conference rookie of the week — hit a three-run bomb. Taveras was the next batter. She, too, went deep in her first at-bat as a Raider.

And in the seventh inning, with Colgate up 8-6 against North Dakota State in Jacksonville, Fla., rookie pitcher Kelcie McGraw ’29 made her debut with the bases loaded and two outs. 

She struck out the hitter to secure a Colgate win on Opening Day. 

“I couldn’t be happier with how we opened the season,” Lamison-Myers said after the game. “With such a young group you are worried about the nerves and excitement, but they truly played like upperclassmen.”

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