WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The College Sports Communicators announced their 2026 Academic All-District Team for softball today with five student-athletes from Williams College being honored — senior Sadie Leonard, juniors Katie Blanch and Justine Dunaway, and sophomores Lauren Davis and Aprill Medrano.
A double major in psychology and women's gender and sexuality studies, Leonard capped off their historic Ephs career in the circle with their third consecutive selection as an Academic All-District performer. The native of Tiburon, California, was 15-5 this past spring with a 1.50 ERA and 231 strikeouts, second in the country and more than double anyone else in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC). Leonard was named the NESCAC Pitcher of the Year for a fourth consecutive season, just the second pitcher in league history to accomplish the feat. Three times in their career Leonard led all of Division III in strikeouts per seven innings, and twice in fewest hits allowed per seven innings. The soon-to-be four-time All-American ended their career with 947 strikeouts in 540 innings to go with a record of 63-17.
Blanch, hailing from Rye, New York, is a psychology major who serves as a pitcher and utility player. At the plate, she hit .296, led the team with nine doubles, a pair of home runs and 12 multi-hit games, plus delivered 20 RBIs. In the circle, she posted a 5-7 record with a 2.79 ERA, striking out 63 batters in 90.1 innings of work. Blanch earned all-region and All-NESCAC honors for a third straight season, being chosen for the second team in both.
A first baseman and outfielder from Henderson, Nevada, Dunaway led the Ephs in RBIs (22), walks (17), hit by pitches (7) and on-base percentage (.427) while batting .299 over 40 games with six doubles and a long ball. On two separate occasions she reached base in 10 consecutive games, and her five RBIs at Cal Lutheran on March 25 set a career high and tied for the team lead in 2026.
Davis is an outfielder from Norwalk, Connecticut, who is a double major in psychology and statistics. She played in 39 of the 41 games, starting 37, while batting .196 and was second on the squad with five stolen bases without being caught. Davis played a large role in a 3-0 win over Wesleyan, going 2-for-2 with a run and an RBI on a sacrifice fly.
A native of Lancaster, California, Medrano is majoring in political science and hit .260 while playing in 34 games (29 starts), primarily at third base. She came on strong over the final month of the campaign, collecting 13 hits in 38 at-bats (.342). That stretch included four multi-hit games as well as a walk-off RBI single in a 2-1 win over Bates on April 11 to get her rolling.
To be considered for Academic All-District honors, a softball student-athlete must be at least a sophomore academically and athletically, have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.5 on a 4.0 scale and have played in at least 90 percent of their team's games or started at least 66 percent. The Academic All-America team will be announced on June 16.
Williams finished the 2026 season with a 24-17 record and advanced to the championship game of the NESCAC Tournament.
