Payton Gottshall and Grace Vesco earn college softball honors; Conner McClure to Olympic Trials

The season is over, but pitchers Payton Gottshall and Grace Vesco had great seasons and finished their college softball careers in style. Both were graduate students.

Gottshall, a Perry High graduate, was part of a one-two pitching punch for Tennessee that saw the Vols finish 42-12 after dropping a 4-1 decision to Alabama in the championship game of the NCAA Super Regionals .

Gottshall posted a 20-5 record with three saves and a 1.37 earned run average. She worked in 35 games with 20 starts. In 147.2 innings, she gave up 96 hits and 33 runs, 29 of which were earned, with 29 walks and 164 strikeouts. She earned second-team All-American honors from both D1Softball and Softball America. She was also named first-team All-Southeast Conference and first-team All-Southeast Region by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.

This was Gottshall’s second season at Tennessee. Last year she was 16-2 with three saves and 130 strikeouts. Before that, she was a standout at Bowling Green, where she went 27-13 her junior season.

Vesco, a graduate of Hoover High, was 20-8 with 17 complete games with five shutouts and a share of three more for St. Francis (Pa.) this season. In 174.1 innings, she struck out 201 to help the Red Flash go 41-14 (24-0 in the Northeast Conference). The team went 1-2 in the Division I NCAA Regionals. She was named NEC Pitcher of the Year and was named to the all-region first team by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association. She also did the work in class. She graduated with a 3.96 grade point average in occupational therapy and was named to the College Sports Communicators team for the entire region.

In her career, Vesco appeared in 134 games (114 starts) and had a 74-40 record with three saves and 30 shutouts. Her career wins and strikeouts (781) are program records. She was a three-time All-NEC choice and was 22-4 in 2021.

Conner McClure (green)

The Virginia Tech junior earned his second All-American honor of 2024 in the pole vault earlier this month at the Division I NCAA Track Championship in Eugene, Oregon. McClure finished in eighth place with a qualifying jump of 17 feet, 7.25 inches. McClure earned his first All-American certificate when he placed third at the NCAA Indoor Championships in March in Boston, where he scored a personal best of 18-1.75. McClure is back in Eugene this week for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, which begin Friday and run through June 30.

Garrett Wright (Jackson)

The 6-0, 190-pound freshman catcher earned three honors for his play with the Bowling Green baseball team (33-20, 24-6 Mid-American Conference). Wright was named first-team All-MAC, was a member of the league’s all-defensive team and was MAC Rookie of the Year. He hit .380 (49-for-129) with eight doubles, six home runs, 40 runs with 28 RBIs. Behind the plate, he made only four errors on 295 chances (.987) and threw out seven would-be stealers.

Elyssa Imler (Minerva)

The senior was named to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-Midwest Team for her performance at Youngstown State. She was also named Horizon League Player of the Year. She started all 53 games for the Penguins (36-17, 20-4 Horizon). Imler led the team with a .340 average. She had 51 hits in 150 at-bats with 10 doubles, a homer, 21 RBIs and led the team with 36 runs. Imler had 14 steals in 15 attempts.

Grace Hamer (Green)

The 5-7 sophomore right-hander was named second-team All-Great Midwest Athletic Conference after an outstanding season pitching for the Ohio Dominican softball team (35-15). She was also named to the Conference Commission Division II All-Midwest team. Hammer appeared in 33 games (11 starts) and was 11-5 with eight saves. She had two shutouts and posted a 1.10 ERA. In 127.1 innings, she gave up 86 hits and 24 runs, 20 of which were earned with 20 walks and 144 strikeouts.

Josie Wise (Perry)

The senior needed four strikeouts to finish with 500 for her career, hitting that mark in her last start as the 25-14 Bethany (W.Va.) softball team lost 3-2 to Allegheny in the Presidents’ Athletic. Conference championship game. That total put her in second place in the Bison record book. Wise appeared in 24 games (20 starts) this season and went 13-9 with a 2.37 ERA in 127 innings, with 118 strikeouts. In 102 career games (75 starts), she is 47-35 with three saves.

Josh Dezenzo (Marlington)

The sophomore hit .455 in 24 games (20 starts) and helped the Washington & Jefferson (Pa.) baseball team go 34-14. Dezenzo had 35 hits in 77 at-bats with nine doubles, a triple, six home runs, 20 runs and 22 RBIs. Despite starting less than half the games, his home runs ranked third on the team. The team went 16-4 Presidents’ Athletic Conference, winning the conference title and going 2-2 in the NCAA Division III tournament.

Connor Mayle (Hoover)

The 5-9 senior third baseman was named second-team All-OAC after a solid season with the John Carroll baseball team (15-24, 7-11 OAC). Mayle hit .364 (51-for-140) with 15 doubles, two triples, two home runs, 30 RBIs with a team-high 39 runs. He stole 10 bases. In the field, Mayle committed eight errors on 138 chances (.942) and was involved in 12 double plays.

Emma Jackson (Marlington)

The second-year third baseman played in 43 games (33 starts) for the West Virginia Wesleyan softball team (17-32, 7-23 Mountain East). Jackson hit .307 (31-for-101) with eight doubles, three home runs and 22 RBIs. She went 4-for-4 with a double in a 5-4 nonleague loss to Concord on March 24 and had a double and two singles in a 4-2 conference setback against West Liberty on April 14.

Hannah Williams (green)

The graduate student was in the five-seater on the Varsity 8 boat for the Jacksonville women’s rowing team, which won its third straight Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference title on May 19 in Jacksonville, Florida. The team won all events, with Williams and her mates winning Sacred Heart by almost 10 seconds in the featured race. She earned first-team All-MAAC twice and second-team once during her career. Jacksonville competed in the NCAA Championships and finished 21st – best in program and MAAC history.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Payton Gottshall, Grace Vesco wrap up college softball careers in style