Reigning Champs Avila Return to Great Bend for KCAC Title Defense

Reigning KCAC Tournament champions Avila will head back to Great Bend this week to defend their title at the 2024 KCAC Softball Championship, which is scheduled to begin this Wednesday, May 1. The Eagles will be the No. 5 seed in this year's event, the same position they were in for their historic run to their first KCAC Tournament title and a berth in the NAIA Opening Round for the first time in half a decade.

Though last season's tournament title was a new achievement, Avila softball is no stranger to success in this event. Excluding the 2020 season where the tournament wasn't even held due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Avila has won at least two games in the KCAC Tournament in every year that Avila has been part of the conference, dating back to 2019 where Avila won 30-plus games, made the KCAC championship series, and qualified for an NAIA regional hosted by Science and Arts.

And that's, of course, exactly the same script the Eagles followed last year in a historic season. And now in year three under head coach Charlie Kennedy, this year's Eagles will not be an upstart; instead, Avila will enter this year's tournament as one of the teams to beat.

This is an experienced Avila roster, full of players who helped lead the team to the tournament title a year ago. Five different Eagles won KCAC Player of the Week honors this season [Pitcher – McKayla Cotton; Player – Stephanie Hayes, Brooke Belflower, Hallie Campbell and Ka'Zem Wood], including one stretch where a different member of the team won a weekly conference honor three weeks in a row. Stephanie Hayes was also named the NAIA Player of the Week that week, the first national honor for Avila softball in recent NAIA recorded history.

Avila locked up a spot in the eight-team field weeks ago, sustained by a perfect start to league play. The Eagles won their first 11 games against KCAC foes this season, energized by a largely successful eight-game trip through California in mid-March. But Avila dropped its final game of that month and has fallen into a cold spell since the calendar flipped to April. After starting league play 11-1, Avila went 6-8 over its final seven KCAC doubleheaders, dropping down to the No. 5 seed as postseason play officially arrives.

Despite the relative cold stretch, Avila remains one of the top teams in the KCAC this season. The Eagles are top six in the league in nearly every offensive stat, and still lead the league with 44 home runs, nine more than the next closest team. The Eagles are also by far the most successful base stealing team in the conference with a whopping total of 196, over 100 more steals than any other team. Nationally, Avila ranks tied for fourth in homers and first in steals with nearly 20 more than Indiana Wesleyan in only two more games.

That gives the Eagles a unique mix of power, speed and experience that most other teams don't possess. Chelsea Kurtz set personal career highs across the board in a standout senior season while breaking her own program record for most stolen bases in a season with 76 and counting. Three other players (Wood, Laila Rueda and Kelly Kight) have at least a dozen swipes this season, and literally every regular except Emily Branson, who is often the team's flex, has at least one. Both Hayes and Belflower have double-digit homers and double-digit doubles, and Montana Stangel and Hallie Campbell aren't far behind.

Avila also boasts strong defense and plenty of experience. Julia Douglass, Katie Wentworth and Kurtz at second, third, and center, respectively, certainly fit in both of those categories. Much of last season's tournament-winning lineup has returned, though the pitching staff that was so critical to last year's success looks a fair bit different. Both McKayla Cotton and Chaunelle Penn are in different roles than they were last year, though both remain vital to the staff, and there are plenty of new faces – underclassmen Aarilynn Richardson and Madyson Withey and Stangel, the two-way standout formerly of Central Methodist – who will factor into the mix heavily in various roles.

The Eagles' hot start and ultimate 17-9 conference record was good enough to earn them the No. 5 seed in the event, which is exactly the position the team was in when they went on their perfect 4-0 run through the field a year ago. Awaiting them in the first round will be local rivals Saint Mary, which Avila defeated twice (9-6 and 7-0) at The Z way back on March 20, the Eagles' third KCAC doubleheader of the season.

The Eagles were, of course, playing extremely well at that point, part of their perfect 11-0 start. But the Spires, under the direction of first-year head coach Kayleigh Behymer-Swan, the former standout starting pitcher for the Eagles, have really picked things up since then, finishing league play at 18-8, one game ahead of the Eagles in the standings.

That sets up an intriguing first-round match between the two Kansas City-area schools at 2:30 PM on Wednesday, May 1, the second game on Field 2. The winner of that game will face the winner of No. 1 Evangel vs. No. 8 Tabor at 5 PM, while the loser will fall to the consolation bracket and face either No. 3 Friends or No. 6 Oklahoma Wesleyan at 7:30.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the 2024 KCAC Softball Championship is on as originally scheduled, but with weather imminent and very likely throughout the week in Great Bend, game dates and times could change, and could change repeatedly. Be sure to stay tuned to Avila Athletics on social media as well as avilaathletics.com for any and all updates from this year's postseason.