2025 Catholic vs Moravian

Landmark Softball Championship Preview: Will Moravian continue To Dominate?

Landmark Softball Championship Preview: Will Moravian continue To Dominate?

Landmark Softball Championship Preview: Can Anyone Stop Moravian?

May 5, 2025 by Briar Napier
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If you know Landmark Conference softball, you know just how lethal Moravian gets when postseason play comes calling.

But while the Greyhounds, who won the conference championship in the regular season, have more than earned their reputation as the league’s premier softball program, success is never guaranteed — and fellow contenders are hot on their trail heading into the 2025 Landmark Conference Softball Championship this week.

Kicking off Tuesday and wrapping up Sunday, the five-team bracket has an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Softball Tournament up for grabs and plenty at stake for multiple teams gunning for a continuation of their postseason dreams.

All the action from throughout the spring in the Landmark comes to a head this week, and like how it’s been the whole way, the only place that you’ll find it all is live and exclusively on FloCollege.

Here’s a look ahead at the Landmark Conference Softball Championship with all that you need to know for all five teams in the league left standing:

NOTE: All first pitch times are listed in Eastern Time.

No. 1 Moravian

Record: 33-7 overall (13-3 Landmark)

First game: vs. No. 4 Wilkes/No. 5 Drew winner, 1 p.m. Friday

The lowdown: Death, taxes and Moravian winning the Landmark’s regular-season softball championship. Since the Landmark started sponsoring the sport in 2008, the Greyhounds have won 12 regular-season conference titles and once again enter postseason play as the league tournament’s top seed for the fourth time in five seasons. Winners of at least 30 games for the ninth time in the past 10 years (not counting the COVID-curtailed 2020 season), Moravian has long been a respected force in D-III softball and little has happened to change that fact this spring. The Hounds crushed the rest of the Landmark in team batting average (.363) and ERA (1.61), with the latter mark ranking 11th across all of D-III as of this writing as they push for not just another piece of conference hardware, but another trip to the D-III Women’s College World Series.

Impact player: Sarah DeStefano, RHP/OF

Watch DeStefano when you can, because seasons like the one she’s having at the moment don’t come around very often at any level of college softball. Being one of the nation’s best pitchers would be impressive enough as the junior currently holds the country’s seventh-lowest ERA at a miniscule .81, allowing fewer earned runs (15) than games she’s won (18) this spring as she’s tossed 18 complete games in 20 starts, tallying a league-best nine shutouts along the way. But if you combine it with the fact that DeStefano is also one of the Landmark’s best hitters when called upon, well, good luck. The Hounds haven’t relied on her as much at the plate as past years as she has a career-low 61 at-bats this season, but DeStefano is slashing .410/.429/.541 with the highest average on the team with 18 RBIs when she’s not mowing down opposing hitters.

No. 2 Catholic

Record: 30-10 (12-4)

First game: vs. No. 3 Susquehanna, 11 a.m. Friday

The lowdown: Consistently-strong in the Landmark as the Cardinals have only missed the conference tournament once since the first edition in 2008, the program regardless has only one Landmark Championship title (in 2014) to show for it. They’ll be determined to add another trophy to the case this week. A 30-win regular-season with a perfect 14-0 record at home is a good start, as was a huge doubleheader two-fer on Moravian last Friday to close out play before the postseason — the Cardinals’ first wins over the perennial power since 2019 and their first-ever two-game sweep of the Greyhounds. On a six-game winning streak going into the conference tournament with added confidence from the Moravian wins, Catholic is feeling dangerous and should be.

Impact player: Sophia Colangelo, RHP

Any doubts that Colangelo couldn’t immediately step into a big role for the Cardinals as a true freshman were immediately erased when she threw a six-inning one-hitter in her first collegiate game back in February. She’s kept on delivering for Catholic since. Holding a 13-2 record with the Landmark’s third-lowest ERA at 1.76 going into the postseason (along with a .93 WHIP), Colangelo shifts between being a starter and a reliever when needed for the Cardinals, often in combination with another top-tier arm in Aubrynn Arcement (2.21 ERA). That’s helped keep her arm fresh (87⅓ innings pitched) throughout the grind of the season and helps her stay devastatingly effective; Colangelo can go the distance, however, like when she had a one-hit, complete-game shutout against Susquehanna on April 13.

No. 3 Susquehanna

Record: 14-19 (10-6)

First game: vs. No. 2 Catholic, 11 a.m. Friday

The lowdown: Sitting at 2-9 going into Landmark play, the River Hawks’ spring was in danger of going off of the rails if things weren’t sorted out quickly. News flash: Susquehanna figured it out. Midseason victories over both Moravian and Catholic proved that the River Hawks can hang with anyone in the league and that their under-.500 record shouldn’t be a measure of their quality, reaching their highest position in the league standings since the appointment of third-year coach Caressa DeRossett. In conference play, SU as a team had an ERA under 2.00 (1.99) with the third-best batting average league-wide (.281), and there’s been little indication recently that the River Hawks can’t keep their good vibes going.

Impact player: Brianna Jones, RHP/UTL

Whether it's production at the plate or on the mound, Jones is a do-it-all weapon for the River Hawks and one of the Landmark’s top all-around players. For pitching, the junior (who recently hit the 250 career strikeouts mark) is becoming more efficient in setting hitters down, tying her career-high for Ks in a season with 93 in more than 25 fewer innings than when she did it in 2024 as a sophomore, all while also maintaining a 1.81 ERA. When Jones has the bat in her hands, she’s averaging an even .400 with a career-high 30 hits in 75 at-bats this spring, slashing .440/.600 with it as she’s tallied 11 extra-base hits and 11 RBIs apiece with 21 runs scored.

No. 4 Wilkes

Record: 16-14 (10-6)

First game: vs. No. 5 Drew, 3 p.m. Tuesday

The lowdown: Welcome to your first-ever trip to the Landmark Championship, Wilkes. After just missing out on the conference tournament a year ago after a solid 21-win campaign, the Colonels are playing postseason ball as a member of the Landmark for the first time since joining the conference in 2023-24, finishing well over .500 in league play and starting the year 5-1 against the Landmark with sweeps over first-round opponent Drew and second-seeded Catholic. A sweep of Elizabethtown to wrap up the regular season was the icing on the cake, but now Wilkes has the tricky task of needing to win games on four different days this week in order to earn a NCAA Tournament bid as only Moravian and Catholic made the NCAA’s Region V rankings from the Landmark. 

Impact player: Lauren DeMarco, RHP

The defending Landmark Conference Pitcher of the Year, who ripped hitters apart in 2024 in the Colonels’ first season in the league with a 1.00 ERA, will likely be beaten to the punch by Moravian’s DeStefano in her bid for a repeat win. Still, don’t have that make you think for a second that DeMarco hasn’t been money on the mound this spring. Holding the conference’s second-lowest ERA at 1.48 with an 8-3 record in 16 appearances, DeMarco is efficient in her work as none of her outings have gone over 100 pitches this season and she’s been responsible for four shutouts. Plus, in good news for Colonels fans, she has some strong history against first-round foe Drew; when she faced the Rangers on March 22, DeMarco had a complete-game one-hitter with four strikeouts, holding Drew scoreless on just 73 pitches.

No. 5 Drew

Record: 20-20 (7-9)

First game: at No. 4 Wilkes, 3 p.m. Tuesday

The lowdown: Appearing in the Landmark Championship for just the third time since 2008, this week will be an unfamiliar spot for Drew, but it’s earned the right to be here as it features an offense with some sneaky-good attributes to it, like having the third-most runs scored (186) of any team in the conference. Meeting the moment will be important this week for the Rangers, however, as Wilkes swept them in the regular season as part of Drew’s 1-7 record in total against the Landmark Championship field, but with four straight 20-win seasons now under the Rangers’ belts for the first time in school history, something for the future may be cooking in Madison.

Impact player: Olivia Magliacano, OF

If you want to see a potential record-setting day go down in Landmark Championship play this week, zero in on Magliacano. Beyond having a major breakout year as she’s beefed up her average from .247 to .397 from a season ago (along with career bests in home runs, RBIs and a whole host of other hitting statistics), Magliacano is also a triple away from breaking the Landmark’s all-time single-season three-bagger record as she has 10 on the year, tying the mark set by Susquehanna’s Brenna Balfour in 2010 and also ranking third nationally as of this writing. Regardless of if (or when) the junior breaks the mark, she’s been a crucial part of the Rangers’ return to the postseason with 23 extra-base hits in total on the year, including a team-best six homers with 26 RBIs.

2025 Landmark Softball Tournament Bracket

The 2025 Landmark Softball Tournament will take place from May 6th-11th

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Wednesday, May 7: At Higher Seed

  • Game 1: #5 Drew at #4 Wilkes - 3:00 p.m.

Friday, May 9: At Tournament Site

  • Game 2: #3 Susquehanna at #2 Catholic- 11:00 a.m.
  • Game 3: Winner Game 1 vs #1 Moravian - 1:00 p.m.
  • Game 4: Loser Game 1 vs Loser Game 2 - 3:00 p.m. (Elimination Game)

Saturday, May 10: At Tournament Site

  • Game 5: Winner Game 2 vs Winner Game 3 - 11:00 a.m.
  • Game 6: Winner Game 4 vs Loser Game 3 - 1:00 p.m. (Elimination Game)
  • Game 7: Loser Game 5 vs Winner Game 6 - 3:00 p.m. (Elimination Game)

Sunday, May 11: At Tournament Site

  • Game 8: Winner Game 5 vs Winner Game 7 - 11:00 a.m.
  • Game 9: If Necessary - Immediately Following

How To Watch The 2025 Landmark Softball Tournament

Fans can watch all the action from the 2025 Landmark Softball tournament live on FloCollege.

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