Highlighted by Marissa Gagliano’s first team honors, the Radford University softball team landed four total players on VaSID All-State teams as Talia Douglas, Abby Morrow and Kayla Huffman were named second team on Tuesday afternoon.
While setting a program record with a 36-game reached base streak, Gagliano hit .361 for the Highlanders with 46 runs scored, 65 hits, 16 doubles, a .522 slugging percentage and a .453 on-base percentage.
Gagliano also swiped 20 bags this season, which ranked fifth in the Big South. She ranked inside the top 10 in 13 conference categories. The Riviera Beach, Fla., native led the squad with 15 multi-hit games and was the only player with four hits in a game this year.
Donning second team honors was a freshman, who contributed to the Radford lineup from day one. After starting the season at second base, she moved over to third and played the final 32 games in the hot corner. Douglas led the team with 118 assists in 2018 and finished second on the team with 55 hits but led all Radford freshmen with 30 runs scored and 11 doubles. Douglas finished the season batting .318, second on the team and hit above .300 with the bases loaded and runners in scoring position.
The Highlanders had two of the best pitchers in the league in Morrow and Huffman, who were two of the three pitchers to earn second team honors in the state of Virginia.
Morrow ranks inside the top 10 in almost every career-pitching category at Radford. She holds the all-time record for appearances with 174. She has moved into second with innings pitched and starts. The Ruther Glen, Va., native only allowed 20 walks for the season and ranked inside the nation’s top five in walks per seven innings. She picked up 23 wins for the first time in her career but has recorded 20 wins in the last three seasons.
Huffman had a stellar year at Radford. She led the team with a 2.01 ERA and 108 strikeouts, while setting a career high for innings pitched in a season with 125.1. Huffman moved into the Radford top 10 for career strikeouts (seventh) and tallied 67 of her 108 strikeouts against Big South teams. In conference, Huffman tallied a sub 2.00 ERA with a 5-2 record.
Gagliano is the first player to earn first team honors since Jessie Hutchins in 2014. It is the first time four Highlanders were named all-state since 2011.
First team
C – Kaylynn Batten, Jr., Longwood
1B – Autumn Bishop, So., Liberty
2B – Amber Bishop, So., Liberty
SS – Marissa Gagliano, R-Jr., Radford
3B – Morgan Tolle, Sr., James Madison
OF – Allison Davis, Sr., Virginia
OF – Kate Gordon, So., James Madison
OF – Tori Zavodny, Sr., Liberty
DP/Utility – Odicci Alexander, So., James Madison
P – Payton Buresch, Fr., James Madison
P – Julia DiMartino, Jr., Liberty
P – Sydney Gay, Jr., Longwood
Second team
C – Kylee Lopez, Jr., Norfolk State
1B – Jess Curbeira, Jr., George Mason
2B – Destiny Martinez, So., Longwood
SS – Sarah Robertson, Jr., Liberty
3B – Talia Douglas, Fr., Radford
OF – Shelby DesChamps, Jr., Norfolk State
OF – DaSha Hill, Jr., Hampton
OF – Madison Via, Fr., Liberty
DP/Utility – Carrie Eberle, So., Virginia Tech
P – Sydney Backstrom, Fr., Longwood
P – Kayla Huffman, Jr., Radford
P – Abby Morrow, Sr., Radford
VaSID Player of the Year
Morgan Tolle, Sr., James Madison
VaSID Pitcher of the Year
Julia DiMartino, Jr., Liberty
VaSID Coach of the Year
Dot Richardson, Liberty
VaSID Rookie of the Year
Payton Buresch, James Madison
–RU Athletics
