As Bulldog softball opens up their season, they have their eyes set on the GLIAC championship and is rolling into the 2025 campaign with one of the youngest rosters in the conference.
Following a solemn ending to their 2024 season, where they lost six of their last eight games, the Bulldogs will have to capture the title without the help of their star workhorse pitcher Aryn Gallacher, who graduated last year. Head coach Jake Schumann has a plan for filling that role this upcoming season.
“Before the beginning of last season, we lost Catherine O’Donohue to a knee injury before we even started GLIAC play,” Schumann said. “Before this, she had our number one spot in the starting rotation, so hopefully we will have her back by the time we start GLIAC play. Not to mention we have a local product, Riley Haist, who is just now gaining her confidence after a great fall.”
Junior pitcher Catherine O’Donohue has the stuff to be the number one starter in the rotation. In her freshman season, she threw 106 innings with a 3.49 ERA and 67 strikeouts. O’Donohue showed her skills last season before her injury. In just 36 innings, she struck out 37, which was over half of her total from the season prior. She allowed only nine runs, walked only 11 and had a 1.73 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP.
Ferris brought in an excellent recruiting class last fall, signing six incoming freshmen, but coach Schumann believes Jayden Marlatt of the 2023 class will make an immediate impact. The Johannesburg, Mich. native was a two-time all-first-state player and was nominated for D-4 Michigan Miss Softball.
For the 2024 class, the most notable person is third baseman Emma Herremans. She was named MLive Muskegon Area Player of the Year, Catchmark Player of the Year, has three all-state marks and is a two-time all-regional team member in her time at Ravenna High School.
After a 2024 season that saw the Bulldogs finish in fourth in the GLIAC, while sitting near the bottom of every major offensive and defensive statistic in the conference, Schumann has many improvements he wants to see this upcoming season.
“I think defensively we need to make some better adjustments,” Schumann said. “We moved some kids around and put them in different positions and get them some more success. Last year we made a lot of errors from the shortstop position, so we are moving Emma Gillard to right field because she has such a good bat that we do not want to lose in our lineup. With the athlete that Jayden is, we are really hoping that she will make our defensive numbers improve.”
The biggest strength for this team is the infield, the best of which being the finalist for the NFCA Freshman of the Year, now sophomore first baseman Alexis Kozlowski. Kozlowski had a .361 batting average, 25 extra base hits, six home runs, 48 RBIs and a .647 slugging percentage, all of which were top 5 in the GLIAC last season.
Kozlowski expressed her excitement for the upcoming season.
“I’m looking forward to taking the field with this team again and winning a lot of games,” Kozlowski said. “This team is extremely determined and selfless. Also, it’s not every day you get to go to Hawaii to play softball, so I’m pumped for that.”
Schumann shares this sentiment and believes the infield is the team’s biggest strength, saying the infield is “one of the best in the country, both offensively and defensively.”
Junior infielder Jadyn Joseph doubled down on Schumann’s comments.
“Our defense is strong and I’m confident in our abilities,” Joseph said. “I think that our team chemistry helps improve our performance.”
The Bulldogs’ season begins on Monday, Feb. 2 in Hawaii against the Hillsdale Chargers.