The Massachusetts softball team joined the Atlantic 10 in 1976 and currently reigns as one of the oldest teams in the conference. The program will bid farewell at the conclusion of the 2025 A-10 season to join the Mid-American Conference.

The year 1996 was a landmark and historic season for the program and one of the most successful among all other teams at UMass. Elaine Sortino punched in her 600th win during the year, and the Minutewomen returned to the NCAA regionals for the second year in a row. UMass qualified for the regionals every year from 1995-2010. The team has tallied 23 A-10 championships, with the most recent one in 2012.

One of the most historic and greatest head softball coaches as well as collegiate coaches, Sortino was the face of the program for the vast majority of its time in the A-10.

Sortino passed away in 2013 after a long battle with cancer.

“​​Be one to five percent better every day,” former UMass softball player and coach Brandice Balschmiter said as a lesson from Sortino.

Sue Peters was a two-sport athlete, also competing in women’s basketball during her undergraduate career. Peters played in the College World Series twice for the Minutewomen (1978 and 1980). She pitched the first no-hitter in school history against New Hampshire on April 12, 1980. Peters was the first UMass softball player to be inducted into the program’s Hall of Fame in 1997.

Balschmiter pitched at UMass from 2006-2009. During her time at the program, she threw 10 no-hitters and three perfect games. She was awarded the A-10 pitcher of the year four times. As for the record books, she ranks third in all-time earned runs allowed average per inning with a 0.99 throughout her time, and first in all-time wins with 126. Balschmiter was inducted into the program’s Hall of Fame in 2019.

Balschmiter remembers the 2009 regional finals against the University of Washington, where the regional finals went 15 innings, even though UMass fell just short.

“This was the greatest game you have ever heard of,” Balschmiter said.

After her time at UMass, from 2009 to 2018, Balschmiter played for the Stratford Brakettes and the Chicago Bandits in 2009 as part of the National Fastpitch League. During her time with the Brakettes, she scored 1664 strikeouts, ranking her fifth in the NPF. Balschmiter’s legacy with the Minutewomen lives on to this day as she reflects on her relationship with coach Sortino.

“It’s never over. You live pitch by pitch, and it matters in the present,” Balschmiter said. “Coach Sortino valued the A-10 and didn’t want to change conferences because the winner got an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.”

At the helm of leadership for the Minutewomen currently is head coach Danielle Henderson, who is a leader and role model for the team on and off the field for UMass. Henderson ranks third all-time in pitcher wins and leads the team in all-time shutouts at 71 during her time at UMass from 1996-1999.

Henderson was inducted into the Women’s Sports Hall of Fame in 2002 and UMass’ Hall of Fame in 2009.

Pitchers weren’t the only standouts in the Minutewomen’s team history. Jena Cozza (’18) ranks first all-time in on-base percentage and second in home runs, total bases and slugging percentage. In her senior year, she homered in all three games against the Fordham Rams.

As a farewell to the A-10, UMass’ history against Rhode Island has been great, with the first matchup between the teams dating back to 1976 as the first contest in the new conference. The Minutewomen won 4-1 and have been dominant against the Rams ever since.

Throughout the program’s history against URI, seven no-hitters have been thrown, which includes Darlene Claffey, Kelly Daut, Deanielle Henderson, Kaila Holtz, Kelli Arnold, Jenna Busa and most recently, Caroline Raymond.

One of the most dominant Minutewomen softball pitchers in recent memory is Sara Plourde. Plourde broke Henderson’s strikeout record as a sophomore in her 2010 season. She ranks eighth all-time in NCAA career strikeouts with 1,662. She holds the all-time UMass records for average strikeouts over a seven-inning period in career records, was a three-time pitcher of the year and is at the top of the Minutewomen’s strikeouts in a single season record for three different seasons (2010, 2011, 2012).

Plourde is the current assistant head coach at Dayton, with a specialty in overseeing the pitching roster development and recruiting for future pitchers.

On the current roster for the last year in the A-10, sophomore Odyssey Torres leads the team with RBIs and tallied a multi-RBI game against A-10 member George Washington. She also leads the team in home runs with three.

UMass will conclude its A-10 run in Amherst at Sortino Field against Saint Louis University on Sunday, May 4, before the A-10 Tournament begins on Wednesday, May 7.

Jonathan Murgida can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @jonathanmurgida.