BEVERLY, Mass. – Seniors Mady Lyons and Jadyn Torres have been named the Conference of New England (CNE) Softball Player and Defensive Player of the Year, respectively, and headline the list of seven student-athletes to earn all-conference honors. Additionally, head coach Laura Leonetti was named Coach of the Year for the second-consecutive season.

Lyons was joined on the first team by junior Jessica Forneiro and sophomore Morgan Pelletier. Sophomore Hailey Cardiello grabbed a spot on the Second Team while Torres, classmate Jillian Reed, and first-year Ashley Bergeron were named to the Third Team. Torres also garnered a spot on the Community Service Team.

Leonetti guided the Wildcats to a 10-game win streak to close the regular season and the No. 3 seed in the conference playoffs. She navigated the loss of her No. 1 starter (Katie Scheid) and conference player of the Year (Mackenzie Clee) from last season's Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Championship squad to guide JWU to its fifth-straight 20-win season.

Lyons led the conference with a .509 average to go with a league-leading 55 hits, 15 doubles, 15 home runs, 48 RBI, 1.065 slugging pct., .584 on-base pct., and a 1.649 OPS. The Prior Lake, Minnesota native hit safely in 29 of 36 games this season, ripped off a 14-game hitting streak from March 5 to April 11, and tallied 19 multi-hit outings and three 2-home run games in 2026.

Over the final 14 games of the season, Lyons drew 14 walks as opponents throughout the CNE attempted to keep Lyons from beating them; during that stretch, however, the Wildcats posted a 10-4 record, proving that Leonetti's lineup was much more than just No. 21. Lyons smacked two home runs and drove in a season-high five against Suffolk on March 29, and drove in four runs in consecutive outings against Endicott (March 30) and Rhode Island College (March 31).

Lyons .509 average and 15 round trippers are the second-highest single season marks in program history, while her 15 doubles and 48 RBI and fifth and sixth, respectively. She graduates No. 1 in program history with 39 home runs and is also tops in doubles (56), No. 2 in RBI (17), tied for No. 3 in hits (199), No. 6 in both average (.404) and walks (51), and No. 7 in at-bats (429).

Torres started all 36 games at shortstop and finished the season with a .968 fielding pct, making just four errors in 124 chances to go with 64 assists. At the plate, the El Paso, Texas native batted .306 with 12 doubles (t-No. 5 in CNE), two home runs, 23 RBI and eight stolen bases. Torres drove in two runs on eight occasions, including three times in her final five games as a Wildcat, one of which was a CNE playoff loss to Hartford on May 7.

A native of Kings Park, New York, Forneiro posted a .325 average this past season with four doubles, two home runs and 18 RBI in 35 games (33 starts). She notched a season-high in both hits (four) and RBI (four) against Suffolk on March 29, and also collected four hits and drove in four in a DH sweep of Hartford on April 25.

Pelletier's .430 average was second in the conference, and she tied for third in the CNE in both home runs (eight) and RBI (37). The Meriden, Connecticut native belted two home runs and drove in six in a DH against the Gulls (March 30) before driving in six in a double dip against the Anchorwomen the following afternoon. Pelletier picked up six hits in a pair of games against Curry on Senior Day (May 1) and closed 2026 with 12 multi-hit efforts.

After receiving just one at bat in 2025, Cardiello posted a .413 average in 2026 as she roped five doubles and registered 14 RBI. The Island Park, New York native plated in a career-high three runs against both UNE (April 21) and the Colonels (May 1), and wrapped her season with a 2-for-2, two RBI performance in the conference playoffs against Hartford (May 7).

Bergeron was named CNE Rookie of the Week following her first week of collegiate competition and finished her inaugural season at JWU with a .356 average, six doubles, three triples (t-No. 3 in CNE), seven home runs and 26 RBI. She hit her first collegiate home run in a win over Clark (MA) on March 5 and launched a grand slam and drove in five in season finale against the Hawks in the CNE playoffs. The Bedford, New Hampshire native tallied a season-high four hits at Gordon (April 18).

Reed led the conference in wins with 13, and was tied for second in complete games (15), third in innings (124.1), sixth in strikeouts (85), and eighth in starts (18). The Burlington, New Jersey native won nine consecutive decisions from April 11 to May 1, and punched out a season-high 10 in a win over the Fighting Scots. Reed tossed a complete-game shutout against both the Cougars (March 5) and Wentworth (March 21).

Riley Kane (Western New England) was tabbed Pitcher of the Year while Alina Weaver (Hartford) was tabbed Rookie of the Year and Kyla Igawa (Wentworth) received Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors.