NEW HAVEN, Conn. - - The Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference announced its 2025 All-Conference Softball Teams on Monday and six Wilmington University softball student-athletes were honored, including five First Team selections.
The Wildcats are 29-16 overall at the end of the regular season, going 17-5 in CACC play to earn the No. 2 seed for the CACC Tournament. They defeated No. 7 Holy Family, 1-0, in 12 innings on Saturday to advance to the double-elimination portion of the CACC Tournament this week at Bridgeport.
Five Wildcats were named First Team All-CACC, including a pair of back-to-back selections. Outfielder Tristyn Stewart and utility pitcher Delani Sheehan repeat as First Team All-CACC honorees while catcher Emma Zimmerman, first baseman Sydney Hatch, and outfielder Maddie Vollmar join Stewart and Sheehan on the First Team. Kylee Gunkel is named a Second Team Pitcher as well for the Wildcats.
Tristyn Stewart (Centreville, Md.) repeats as a First Team All-CACC outfielder. She is second in the CACC with 30 stolen bases this year, batting .345 with 49 hits, seven doubles, a triple, 19 RBI, and 38 runs scored. She's had a season high three hits in a game six times and broke the program single game record with five stolen bases against Sioux Falls in Florida.
Delani Sheehan (New Castle, Del.) repeats as a First Team All-CACC utility pitcher, earning the postseason honor for the third year in a row after being a Second Team honoree in 2023. In the circle, she is 11-7 with a save, throwing 112.1 innings, ranking sixth in the CACC with a 2.65 ERA, and 5th in the league with 108 strikeouts. At the plate, she is hitting .284 with four doubles and two homers while knocking in 11.
Emma Zimmerman (Aberdeen, Md.) returns to All-CACC prominence, being voted as the CACC First Team catcher. She was a Second Team All-CACC honoree as a freshman in 2022. Zimmerman broke the WilmU program record in throwing runners out attempting to steal earlier this year and has five so far this year. She is batting .315 this year, collecting five doubles, a homer, and 18 RBI on the year. She is also fifth in the CACC with nine sacrifice bunts on the year.
Sydney Hatch (Magnolia, Del.) had a great second half of the year to earn her first All-CACC selection as a freshman. The first baseman leads the Wildcats and is sixth in the CACC with a .412 batting average. She has 33 hits with seven doubles, a triple, two homers, and is fourth on the team with 20 RBI. She is fifth in the CACC with a 1.078 OPS on the season.
Maddie Vollmar (Thornton, Colo.) started her freshman campaign off strong before an injury set her back at the end of the year. She is second on the team with a .382 batting average, collecting 34 hits with eight doubles, three triples, and 14 RBI. She came back from the injury on Saturday to start the playoffs and came away with the game-winning sacrifice fly. She has also appeared in seven games in the circle for the Wildcats, going 2-1 in 18.2 innings, picking up 15 strikeouts as well. She has a 1.88 ERA on the year.
For the fourth time in her career, Kylee Gunkel (Highland, Md.) was named All-CACC, earned Second Team as a pitcher in 2025. She was a First Team selection her first three seasons, including back-to-back CACC Pitcher of the Year awards. In 2025, she is 13-7, breaking the program's all-time wins record with her 70th career win. She has tossed a team best 121.1 innings, striking out 86 while only allowing batters to hit .217 against her. She pitched 11 of the 12 innings on Saturday, lowering her ERA to 2.65 on the season.
Caldwell's Ashleigh Tavaska was voted the CACC Player of the Year while Bridgeport's Kaite Burawski was named the CACC Pitcher of the Year. Jeferson's Delaney Alix was named the CACC Rookie of the Year while Bridgeport's coach Dawn Stearns was voted the CACC Coach of the year by the league's athletics communications personnel. Bloomfield earned the Team Sportsmanship Award to round out the Major Awards.
The Wildcats enter the double-elimination portion of the CACC Tournament as the No. 2 seed and will play their first game on Thursday at Seaside Park hosted by the University of Bridgeport.
2025 CACC Softball All-Conference Teams
First Team:
C – Emma Zimmerman (Wilmington University)
1B – Sydney Hatch (Wilmington University)
2B – Grace Vondracek (Caldwell University)
3B – Mya Jones (University of Bridgeport)
SS – Ashleigh Tavaska (Caldwell University)
OF – McKenzie Nazionale (Caldwell University)
OF – Tristyn Stewart (Wilmington University)
OF – Maddie Vollmar (Wilmington University)
P – Delaney Alix (Thomas Jefferson University)
P – Kaite Burawski (University of Bridgeport)
P – Caitlyn Burch (Goldey-Beacom College)
DP – Wynter Radcliffe (Goldey-Beacom College)
UT-PLAYER – Ariana Mirenda (Goldey-Beacom College)
UT-PITCHER – Delani Sheehan (Wilmington University)
Second Team:
C – Alexis Letizia (Holy Family University)
1B – Bryn Bohmann (Goldey-Beacom College)
2B – Angela Oros (University of Bridgeport)
3B – Lindsay Oller (Caldwell University)
SS – Madison D'Amato (University of Bridgeport)
OF – Rylee Hobel (Holy Family University)
OF – Ella Moore (Georgian Court University)
OF – Sydnee Perreault (University of Bridgeport)
P – Emily Baxter (Dominican University)
P – Kylee Gunkel (Wilmington University)
P – Morgan McLane (Goldey-Beacom College)
DP – Kimberly Torres (Felician University)
UT-PLAYER – Adriana Barnes (Dominican University)
2025 CACC Player of the Year: Ashleigh Tavaska (Caldwell University)
2025 CACC Pitcher of the Year: Kaite Burawski (University of Bridgeport)
2025 CACC Rookie of the Year: Delaney Alix (Thomas Jefferson University)
2025 CACC Coach of the Year: Dawn Stearns (University of Bridgeport)
2025 CACC Team Sportsmanship Award: Bloomfield College