MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – The historic 2025 season for the Wesleyan softball team is reflected in the annual NESCAC awards as the Cardinals earned two major awards while the team saw a single-season team record five named All-NESCAC, as announced by the league office on Wednesday afternoon.
The major awards saw
Jen Lane and
Jill Karwoski earn NESCAC Coaching Staff of the Year while pitcher
Jacelyn Lees '28 was recognized as the NESCAC Rookie of the Year. This is Lane's third career NESCAC award, as she was previously named Coach of the Year in 2008 and 2010, while Karwoski makes an instant impact in her first season with the Cardinals. Lees is the third Cardinal in team history to earn Rookie of the Year honors, joining Su Pardo '16 and Abby Ruth '17.
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The All-NESCAC announcement saw three Cardinals earn First Team honors while a pair were named to the Second Team. The five honorees is a new team record, surpassing the 2008 and 2010 squads that had four All-NESCAC selections. Lees is joined on the First Team by pitcher/outfielder
Abby Orso G'25 and infielder
Molly Lennon '26 while designated player/pitcher
Isabella Secaira-Cotto '25 and outfielder
Rebecca Cassel-Siskind '26 earned a Second Team nod.
Leading the Cardinals to a host of team records in 2025, Lane and Karwoski were recognized among their peers as the top coaching staff in the NESCAC this season. The Cardinals' 29-12 record is a new single-season team record for wins, easily surpassing the previous record of 24 set back in 2010 by the NESCAC title-winning squad, while the team's .707 win percentage is another single-season record as is the 12 NESCAC regular season wins. Wesleyan also won the Little Three Championship for the first time since 2013 and just the third time overall, sweeping both Amherst and Williams for the first time in team history.
Jacelyn Lees '28 | Pitcher | Rookie of the Year | First Team
Lees was outstanding in her first collegiate season, posting a 14-2 record in 21 appearances (14 starts) with a 1.60 ERA and 1.04 WHIP in 100.1 innings. She struck out 62 batters and walked only 13 while throwing 10 complete games with six shutouts. Lees also hit .327 with a .792 on-base plus slugging percentage in 55 at-bats, totaling 18 hits and three doubles, one home run, and 12 RBI.
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Among pitchers with 100+ innings, Lees ranked second in the NESCAC in ERA and third in wins while she led the nation in ERA for the first month of the season. Through Lees' first nine appearances, totaling 42.1 innings, she allowed just one earned run and 27 hits while striking out 35 batters. She shined against Williams, throwing a complete game three-hit shutout while driving in the only run in a 1-0 home win that secured the team's first-ever sweep of Williams as well as the Little Three title.
Abby Orso G'25 | Pitcher/Outfielder | First Team
Pairing up with Lees to give Wesleyan a dominant duo on the circle, the graduate transfer from Colby closed out her collegiate career with a third First Team All-NESCAC selection as she was previously honored as a Mule in 2022 and 2024. Orso made an immediate impact, tossing 110 innings with 110 strikeouts in 21 appearances (19 starts) while going 10-6 with a 1.85 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, and .161 batting average against. She threw 11 complete games and had six shutouts. Orso finished with a sub-2.00 ERA for the first time in her career while her batting average against and six shutouts are also single-season career-bests.
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After not seeing many at-bats since her rookie season in 2022, Orso added significant value to the Cardinal lineup and finished as the team-leader in batting average (.396), on-base percentage (.434), slugging percentage (.656), on-base plus slugging (1.090), and triples (six) while adding 23 RBI, four doubles, and three home runs. Orso hit below .200 with just 31 at-bats in her final two years at Colby, but she turned it around in a big way for Wesleyan, leading the team in five batting categories.
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She threw just the second no-hitter in team history back on March 14, strikeout out 10 in a mercy rule win over Saint Joseph's (Maine). Orso was outstanding in a 2-0 home win over Williams, throwing a complete game three-hit shutout with no walks and eight strikeouts. Orso also dominated in the NESCAC Quarterfinal, allowing only three hits and two runs (one earned) with six strikeouts in a 4-2 win over Bates in what was the Cardinals' first postseason win since 2010.
Molly Lennon '26 | Second Base | First Team
Lennon had a career year at the plate, establishing career-high totals in every possible hitting category to earn her first career All-NESCAC honor. Lennon hit .353 while appearing in all 41 games for the Cardinals, totaling 36 runs, eight doubles, six triples, six home runs, 28 RBI, 12 walks, and nine stolen bases. Each of those numbers are new career-bests for Lennon who has been a three-year starter for Wesleyan at second base. She is tied for third in the NESCAC in runs, triples, and home runs.
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Lennon had at least one hit in 32-of-41 games played this season including 12 multi-hit games and three three-hit performances. She started the year with a streak of five straight games with at least two hits from March 11-14 down in Florida. Coming into the year with two career home runs and 12 career extra-base hits, Lennon expanded her power in 2025 as she totaled six home runs and 20 extra-base hits in just this season alone.
Isabella Secaira-Cotto '25 | Designated Player/Pitcher | Second Team
It's a third career All-NESCAC honor for Secaira-Cotto who becomes the seventh player in team history to graduate with three All-NESCAC selections. Previously named to the First Team in 2024 and Second Team in 2022, Secaira-Cotto had a career year at the plate while several of her stats in the circle were also career-bests. Playing in 40 games (38 starts) this season, Secaira-Cotto established a career-best .325 batting average with a career-high 39 hits in 120 at-bats. Her home run (five) and RBI (29) totals are both career-bests while she added eight doubles and one triple to give her a career-high .533 slugging percentage.
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The team-leader in RBI, Secaira-Cotto came through time and time again for the Cardinals in the #3 spot in the lineup. She had a 12-game hit streak between March 15 and April 6 while she totaled nine multi-hit games for the season. Secaira-Cotto also made 13 appearances (seven starts) on the circle and easily set a new career-best with her 1.52 ERA in 46 innings. She threw one complete game and allowed opponent to hit .240 off her, another career-best mark.
One of the most-improved players on the team from last season, Cassel-Siskind established herself as the everyday starting centerfielder for Wesleyan while setting career-best marks across the board to earn an All-NESCAC selection for the first time. A converted infielder, Cassel-Siskind spent her sophomore year largely at left field but transitioned successfully to the center field role in her junior year, making just two errors with 60 putouts to give her a .968 fielding percentage.
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Her impact at the plate was massive, solidifying herself at the #2 spot in the order while batting .339 in 127 at-bats, totaling 43 hits, 36 runs scored, 10 doubles, five triples, two home runs, 20 RBI, 16 walks, and 17 stolen bases. She ranked third on the team in batting average and second in hits while leading the team in runs scored, doubles, walks, and stolen bases. After producing one extra-base hit in 64 at-bats as a sophomore, Cassel-Siskind produced 17 extra-baes hits this year while starting all 41 possible games
