The Phoenix’s 2025 Softball Preview 

The Loyola softball team is making final preparations for their upcoming 2025 season after finishing last season 29-24 and 16-10 Atlantic 10 play. In the A10 tournament, the Ramblers beat St. Joseph’s University in a 7-1 contest then St. Louis University 8-4 before falling in the third round to the University of Dayton 2-0.

The Ramblers have undergone some coaching changes ahead of the 2024-25 season, including the addition of assistant coach Alaynie Woollard. The New Castle, Ind. native spent four seasons at Northern Illinois University from 2015 to 2018, where she played shortstop, third base and catcher. 

Woolard began her coaching career in 2019 as an assistant coach at Franklin College, a season where the Grizzlies finished with a 18-18 record. Woollard later took her talents to the University of Green Bay where she helped lead the team to a 23-21 season in 2021 — the program’s most wins since 2014. In 2022, she helped the Phoenix amass 25 wins and secure their first postseason victory since 2015. 

NEWCOMERS

In addition to coaching adjustments, the Ramblers welcomed six new additions, all of whom are first-years. 

Infielder Kayci Rigby joins the Ramblers from Huxley, Iowa. The Ballard High School graduate put up seven home runs and 33 runners batted in while maintaining a .493 batting average and a .960 fielding percentage across four varsity years and club play with Iowa Premier Fastpitch. 

Woodridge, Ill. native Alli Pawlowicz will join the Loyola infield and outfield after recording a dominant 1.192 on-base slugging, 27 RBIs and nine home runs in her senior year. In her final season at Lemont High School, Pawlowicz received Third-Team All-State, Second-Team All-Area and South Suburban All-Conference honors.

Outfielder Addyson Jones comes to Rogers Park from Lafayette High School in Glencoe, Mo. At Lafayette, Jones recorded a .446 batting average and a .485 OBS. During her four years on Lafayette’s varsity team, Jones was named to First Team All-Conference, First Team All-District and First Team All-Region in her junior and senior years. Jones also played club ball with the St. Louis Chaos. 

Abby Johnson, a native of Mokena, Ill. joins the Ramblers after four years of varsity play at Providence Catholic High School and club action with the Chicago Wildcats. In her first year at Providence Catholic, Johnson mashed 22 home runs with a .262 batting average. In her senior year, Johnson had 24 hits and 20 RBIs with a .260 batting average. 

Outfielder Averi Vander Woude hails from Frankfort, Ill., where she boasted a .500 batting average and 12 stolen bases in her first year at Lincoln Way East High School. In her junior and senior years, Vander Woude held .418 and .414 batting averages with 25 and 22 stolen bases, respectively. For her efforts, Vander Woude was named to SWSC All-Conference, Second Team All-State and All-Area Honorable Mention. 

Infielder Addyson Borg comes to Rogers Park from San Tan Valley, Ariz. Borg played one year for Basha High School’s varsity team, where she held a 3.96 earned run average in 23 innings pitched. Borg played club with the Arizona Storm Fastpitch team. She’ll be the second Borg to join the Ramblers, following in the footsteps of her sister Emily Borg, who played from 2017 to 2020. 

GAMES

The Ramblers will play their first game in the University of Northern Iowa Dome Tournament, starting Feb. 7 in Cedar Falls, Iowa. They’ll face off against the University of North Dakota, University of Omaha, UNI and Drake University. 

The team begins A10 conference play against Fordham University in The Bronx, N.Y. March 15 at 11 a.m. and will open play at home against Saint Joseph’s University March 22 at 12 p.m.

Between conference games, the Ramblers will play in two inter-city rivalries against DePaul University March 25 at 3 p.m. and Northwestern University April 16 at 4 p.m.

Loyola takes on the reigning A10 champions — the University of Dayton Flyers — at home April 12, beginning at 12 p.m. The Flyers handed the Ramblers their first loss in last year’s A10 tournament, sending the Ramblers to the losers’ bracket, where they were defeated SLU in a narrow 7-6 loss.