Greyhound Softball Squad Opens 2023 Campaign on February 26 in Florida

Junior second baseman Ajala Elmore gets ready to throw to first base during a game with rival Muhlenberg College at Blue & Grey Field during the 2022 season. Photo by Cosmic Fox Media / Matthew Levine '11

Posted: Feb 24, 2023

BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian University softball team starts its 2023 season on Sunday, February 26 with non-conference games versus Chatham College and Adrian (Mich.) College at the PFX Spring Games in Winter Haven, Florida.

First-year Head Coach Josh Baltz has 12 returning players from last year's 29-5 squad. The group of student-athletes back for the Hounds includes four that have garnered postseason accolades in their careers.

Junior designated player Emily Silberman was named to the Landmark All-Conference Second Team for a second straight year last spring as well as the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division III All-Region 5 Second Team after she posted a .394 batting average, 40 hits, 14 runs, four doubles, nine homers and 37 RBIs Silberman enters her third season with 67 hits, 58 RBIs, 12 homers and a .421 career batting average.

Sophomore pitcher Madi Cunningham returns after being selected as the 2022 Landmark Conference Rookie of the Year, to the Landmark All-Conference First Team and the NFCA Division III All-Region 5 Second Team. Cunningham was 17-1 in the circle with a 2.18 ERA, a save and 83 strikeouts in 118.2 innings of action last spring, and she also hit .359 with 14 hits, 13 RBIs, 11 runs, two doubles and five home runs in just 39 at-bats.

Sophomore first baseman Lindsay Gawrys was named to the NFCA Division III All-Region 5 First Team after recording a .435 batting average, 47 hits, 30 RBIs, 28 runs, nine doubles, a triple and six homers in her debut season.

Senior pitcher Madison Hummel was the 2021 Landmark Conference Pitcher of the Year, and she was also selected to the Landmark All-Conference First Team and the NFCA All-Atlantic Region First Team as a sophomore. Hummel was 12-3 last season with a 1.97 ERA and 43 strikeouts in 99.1 innings over 16 appearances, and she has 95 career strikeouts, two saves, a 1.77 ERA and a 27-5 mark in 37 career appearances including 34 starts.

Also returning for the Greyhounds to add depth to the roster are junior utility player Ajala Elmore, junior outfielder/catcher Mya Zettlemoyer, sophomore infielder Holly Walter, sophomore catcher Jenna Lenko, sophomore outfielder Jessica Forder, senior catcher/utility player Hailey Kortman, sophomore outfielder Sage Snyder and sophomore infielder Ren Herschman. Elmore contributed 28 hits, 22 runs, 20 RBIs, five doubles, a pair of triples and three home runs in 2022 while Walter posted 24 hits, 16 runs, seven RBIs, four doubles and a triple. Zettlemoyer added 22 hits, 25 runs, 11 RBIs and four doubles while Forder had five hits and three runs. Herschman recorded four hits, seven RBIs, two runs and a double while Snyder had three hits and seven runs and Lenko added one hit.