WASHINGTON – Fordham senior Sydney Wells and Saint Louis junior Abby Mallo shared the Atlantic 10 Conference Softball Co-Players of the Year awards. George Washington graduate student Anna Reed earned Pitcher of the Year, while Saint Louis junior Chloe Rhine was named Defensive Player of the Year. Additionally, Saint Joseph’s freshman Marla Freiwald was recognized as Rookie of the Year. Saint Louis’ head coach Christy Connoyer was honored as Coach of the Year.
The Atlantic 10 announced the major awards ahead of its Softball Championship, which begins on Wednesday at 12 p.m. at George Washington Softball Field. In addition to the five superlative awards, the A-10 named its All-Conference, All-Rookie and All- Academic teams.
The major awards as well as All-Conference and All-Rookie were voted on by the league head coaches. The All-Academic team was chosen by the league’s softball communication directors.
Wells powered Fordham’s offense, leading the Rams in home runs (16), RBI (49) and slugging percentage (.793). Her home runs, slugging percentage and OPS (1.329) ranked second in the Atlantic 10 and her RBI were third in the conference. A catcher from Selah, Washington, Wells had a .979 fielding percentage behind the dish. She compiled career bests in batting average (.372), on-base percentage (.542) and slugging percentage (.793). Wells’ .542 OBP also led the conference and her slugging percentage ranks 41st nationally.
A four-time A-10 Softball Player of the Week, Mallo was one of the top bats in the conference. Her 18 home runs and 73 RBI were a league best and her 59 hits were second in the A-10. Mallo, a catcher/utility player from Oak Lawn, Ill., was also third in the conference in OPS (1.223), doubles (12) and slugging percentage (.776). Mallo became Saint Louis’ career home run leader in the Billikens April 26 game against St. Bonaventure, when she slugged her career 38th home run. Mallo set single-season SLU program records in home runs (18), RBI (73), total bases (125) and runners caught stealing (12). Her 73 RBI also rank fourth nationally.
Reed dominated on the mound for the Revolutionaries. The graduate student from San Luis Obispo, California had a conference best 2.15 ERA with an A-10 leading 16 wins. Across 130 innings, she compiled a 16-6 record with 118 strikeouts and only 31 walks. She struck out a season-high seven batters on April 2 against George Mason. Reed held opposing batters to a .232 BA, which ranks third in the conference.
Rhine was a lock down defender for the Billikens. A shortstop from Erie, Colorado she recorded 114 assists with a .962 fielding percentage. Her 114 assists ranked second in the league and 47th nationally. She converted 11 of the Billikens’ league-leading 24 double plays. Rhine made 51 starts for the Billikens and had career-bests in assists (114) and fielding percentage and tied for her career-best in putouts (65). She also allowed the fewest number of errors (7) in her career. During A-10 action, she committed just two errors in 88 chance for a .977 fielding percentage.
Freiwald, a Schuylkill Haven, PA native, made 31 appearances, including four starts, for the Hawks. The freshman pitcher finished the regular season with an 8-3 record and five saves. She held opponents to .256 batting average, while striking out 35 batters. Freiwald posted a 2.83 ERA across 74.1 innings. Her ERA ranked seventh in the A-10 and her five saves ranked second in the conference.
Connoyer guided the Billikens to an 18-7 record in conference action and a 30-21 record overall. In her 15th season as the Billikens head coach, she guided Saint Louis a two-seed and first-round bye in the A-10 Softball Championship. Over 15 seasons at Saint Louis, she compiled a 383-369 record and was also named the 2023 A-10 Coach of the Year. Connyer’s Billikens finished the season second in the A-10, which included a school-record 15-game winning streak. The Billikens posted a 30 win season for the third consecutive season inlcuding a third straight first-round bye in the A-10 Championship. Connoyer registered her 400th career victory in a 3-0 victory on April 6 against George Washington.
In addition to Mallo (catcher), Wells (catcher) and Reed (pitcher) on the First Team All-Conference are Saint Joseph’s Hailey Malito (first base) and Sierra Fretz (utility), Dayton’s Maddie Kapsimalis (second base), Chloe Wong (third base), Kirnan Bailey (shortstop), Emma Schutter (outfield) and Izzy Kemp (pitcher), Fordham’s Nicki Sudall (designated player) and Neleh Nogay (outfield), and George Washington’s Ashley Corpuz (outfield).
The Second Team All-Conference included Fordham’s Eva Koratsis (first base), Kate McGuire (shortstop) and Holly Beeman (pitcher), Loyola Chicago’s Haley Wallace (second team), George Mason’s Tess Altevers-Harris (third base) and Elyssa DeRosa (outfield), St. Bonaventure’s Kymora Wang (third base), Karena Recrosio (outfield) and Kendall Stull (utility), George Washington’s Allison Heffley (catcher), Massachusetts’ Lydia Castro (designated player) and Saint Louis’ Natalie Sullivan (outfield) and Taylor Hochman (pitcher).
Joining Friewald on the All-Rookie team is Fordham’s Elizabeth Gaisior, George Mason’s Abbey Lane, George Washington’s Kaylee Layfield and Emi Todoroki, Loyola Chicago’s Alli Pawlowicz, Massachusetts’ Brooke Musch, Rhode Island’s Katie Knarr and Saint Louis’ Anna Christ and Scout Gallagher.
The All-Academic team featured Kapsimalis, Kemp, Schutter, Koratsis, Sudall, Corpuz, Reed, Hochman, Mallo and Sullivan.
The 2025 Softball Championship begins Wednesday at George Washington Softball Field. No. 4 George Washington will face No. 5 Saint Joseph’s at 12 p.m. followed by No. 3 Fordham and No. 6 Loyola Chicago at 2:30 p.m. The loser of game one and game two will meet at 5 p.m. All A-10 Softball Championship games will be aired on ESPN+.