No. 6 in the nation, Saints Softball heads to state tourney
May 12, 2026
The Saints Softball team is on its way to Clearwater for the FCSAA Softball Division 1 Championship tournament following a spirited sendoff Tuesday morning at the Northwest Campus Gym.
The team is coming off its best season since 2014, with 40+ wins and a No. 6 national ranking in the NJCAA. The Saints finished solo-second in the Citrus Conference.
College President Paul Broadie II complimented the team on an impressive season.
“What I like about what you have accomplished, is that you’ve done it without sacrificing your academics; that’s a double congratulations,” Broadie said. “I do think you are going to go off and win it all and you have a team of people behind you cheering you on.”
Santa Fe College has been ranked in the top 10 of the NJCAA DI Softball Rankings Presented by Netting Professionals since Week 1 (February 23), when they were slotted at No. 8. The Saints reached as high as No. 4 overall (Week 7, April 6), finishing the final three weeks at their current spot.
Their opening-round game tomorrow, May 13, at 1 p.m., against Miami Dade College at the Eddie C. Moore Complex, will be streamed live on the FACSAA Digital Network.
Head Coach Savannah Webster said she had a good feeling about the season early on. “We faced a little adversity our first couple of games and watching the kids stay in the game and having fun the entire time,” she said. “I thought ‘OK, we have a chance to be pretty good.’”
Webster said the team was looking forward to the entire experience of the state tournament, both having fun and aiming to earn at least one more win over last year.
Sophomore outfielder Molly Bender, recently named Citrus Conference Player of the Year, said she was most excited to compete and “do what we have been doing all season; it’s coming together at the end of the season when it matters,” she said.
Sophomore Belle Mancillas, Citrus Conference Pitcher of the Year, said she was excited to “get Coach Webster her first (state tournament) win and take her to nationals for the first time.”
“It means everything,” Bender said. “It’s what we have been working for all season, and we are wanting it so bad – to bring it home for our coaches and each other and then move on to the World Series.”
The team also enjoyed the bags of treats and positive messages supplied from departments and individuals across the college.
Citrus Conference and All-FCSAA honors
Six Saints were named First Team All-Citrus Conference North: McKenzie Cox, Molly Bender, Ellie Frierson, Sydney English, Belle Mancillas, and Morgyn Stevens.
The Saints also had two players earn Citrus Conference Awards: Bender as Player of the Year – the first Saint to earn the honor in more than 10 years; and Mancillas as Pitcher of the Year. Mancillas is the first Pitcher of the Year to come from Santa Fe College since Mallory Forrester in 2024.
This season also marked first time SF has had four First or Second All-State players in more than a decade. The Saints had three players earn All-State honors in 2025, 2024, and 2021.
Bender and Mancillas were selected to First Team All-State; infielder McKenzie Cox and catcher Sydney English were selected to Second Team.
