The winningest senior class in Wilmington College history added to its lore Saturday, and closed out their careers, with a doubleheader sweep of Mount Union Saturday in Ohio Athletic Conference action at the WC Softball Complex. The Fightin' Quakers claimed the opener, 7-1, and won the nightcap, 7-0.
Wilmington finishes with eight OAC victories, the most by the softball program in school history. The Fightin' Quakers concludes the season 17-20 overall.
"Today was a very special day," said Wilmington head coach Beth Floyd. "We saw eight young ladies play their final games in a Quaker uniform. They played outstanding, and it was a super day all the way around. We came out with two big W's on Senior Day."
Senior Danielle Monnier (Houston, OH/Houston) set a single-season wins record, earning both ends of the doubleheader to record wins 12 and 13. Monnier was in the circle for the all 14 innings, allowing one unearned run on 10 hits with 12 strikeouts and one walk. The outing capped a marvelous career in which she leaves Wilmington as the all-time leader in wins (37) and strikeouts (447). Additionally, she owns the top three single-season performances in strikeouts and the top two single-season win totals.
"Danielle is just a special player," said Floyd. "You don't have players like Danielle in the pitching position come along very often. She will always have a special place in my heart and the coaching staff's heart."
Not only was Monnier exceptional in the circle, she posed a danger at the plate. The senior opened the scoring in the opener with her first homerun of the season, a two-run shot in the second inning. Wilmington never trailed for the remainder of the game.
Monnier wasn't the only record-setting player making waves in her final game in a Wilmington uniform.
Catlin Shilling (Waverly, OH/Waverly) was 6-for-7 with three doubles, three runs scored and four RBI in the sweep. She concludes her career as the school's all-time leader in doubles (37), homeruns (24) and RBI (86). Shilling also holds single-season records in batting average (.482) and homeruns (10). Her 53 hits this season were the second-most in any season.
"Catlin had a tremendous career, and will be greatly missed," said Floyd. "She is an outstanding offensive player, probably the best in the conference this year. It was great to see her finish a stellar career with a fine senior season."
Wilmington's eight seniors – Stacy Lunsford (Wilmington, OH/Clinton-Massie), Kaylee Cox (Elgin, OH/Elgin), Erika Lee (Blanchester, OH/Blanchester), Olivia Hutchison (Mason, OH/Mason), Lina Larsson (Skovde, Sweden/Kavelbrogymnasiet), Nikki Tolson (Monroe, OH/Lemon Monroe) and Monnier – combined to record 13 of the Fightin' Quakers' 25 hits in the doubleheader.
In the opener, Wilmington scored in five of its six at-bats – tallying multiple runs in the second and fourth innings.
Seven of the hitters in the lineup recorded hits as WC pounded out 14 hits. Shilling was 3-for-3 and sophomore Megan Warren (Grove City, OH/Grove City) went 3-for-4 with a run scored.
Cox, Hutchison and freshman Kerrie Trautman (Hartville, OH/Field) all recorded two hits for Wilmington.
The Fightin' Quakers took advantage of some Mount Union miscues scoring five of their seven runs in the fourth inning. All five of the runs were unearned, and six of Wilmington's seven runs were unearned.
Lunsford wrapped up her career, going 3-for-4 with a RBI and two runs scores, while Shilling was 3-for-4 with three RBI and two runs scored. Lee also had two hits for Wilmington, going 2-for-3.