MOUNT VERNON, Ohio - One of the best seasons in Goshen College softball history came to a close on Wednesday as the five-seeded Maple Leafs lost to the eight-seed Taylor Trojans 6-2. The Leafs finished with 24 wins this year, which tied the 2001 and 2022 teams for the most wins in a season. Their 16 conference wins set a new school record.

The 3:00 pm afternoon game started with 16-mile-per-hour winds and a temperature of 47 degrees. Both teams got runners in scoring position in the first inning but could not score. Goshen starter Alisyn Catenacci forced three groundouts in the top of the second to quickly get through that inning. Catenacci singled in the bottom half, but no runs were scored as the teams went to the third.

The Trojans started the next inning with a walk and a double to put runners at second and third. Catenacci got two outs in a row, but then Livie Lehmann hit a double to right field over the head of Shea VanScoter that scored the two runners. Then Delaynee McCreary hit another RBI double to right, which scored Lehmann to make it 3-0. Goshen had three quick outs in the bottom of the third, and then the rain came in.

After a 48-minute weather delay, Catenacci returned in the circle for Goshen, but the first batter walked, and the second was hit by a pitch. After a passed ball that advanced the runners to second and third, head coach Luke Wagner removed her from the game and put in Grace Schmitt. In her most recent outing, Schmitt had allowed just one earned run in 5.1 innings pitched. The first batter she faced hit an RBI groundout to make the score 4-0, but she finished the inning with a popup and groundout.

In the bottom of the fourth, the Maple Leafs got runners on second and third but ended the frame with a strikeout looking. Both teams went three-up and three-down in the fifth. The Trojans had a two-out triple in the sixth, but a groundout from the next batter got Schmitt out of the inning.

Goshen began the bottom of the sixth with a walk from Shea VanScoter and a single by Bianca Diamond. A fielder's choice and a groundout resulted in Diamond at third base and Peyton Foreman at second. The first Goshen run scored as Diamond crossed home on a wild pitch as it began to rain again. Mckenzie Richardson walked, but then the Leafs scored again on a 2-2 count on another wild pitch to cut the deficit to two. The inning ended on a swinging strikeout.

Taylor came up big when they needed to in the seventh. With a 3-2 count and two outs, Delaney Barton hit a two-RBI double to right, which made it 6-2. Taylor hit .417 with two outs during the game, and five of their six runs were scored with two outs in the inning.

With an out in the bottom of the seventh, pinch hitter Sydney Lockhart hit an infield single, and Kaylee Kates reached base on an error by the first baseman. Lockhart moved to third on the error, but two popups ended the game for Goshen. The Leafs were just 2-14 with runners on base and 0-7 with runners in scoring position. Schmitt finished the afternoon by allowing just one earned run in four innings of relief.

Nonetheless, the 2023 softball season was filled with many team and individual achievements. The team set the program conference wins record and tied the record for overall wins and complete games pitched (26) in a season. They also had a record 15 sacrifice flies.

Shea VanScoter had 70 hits this season, only behind Emily Cummings' 73 hits during 2019. Her .424 batting average is tied for the fifth-best in program history - tied with Ri Koteles' mark in 2022. Alisyn Catenacci finished in the top ten for home runs, RBIs, wins, strikeouts thrown and innings pitched in a season. As just a first-year, Bianca Diamond is top ten for hits, stolen bases and doubles in a season. She had just eight strikeouts in her 150 at-bats this year, or just 5.33% of her appearances at the plate.

Taylor will face three-seed Mount Vernon Nazarene on Thursday.