Dayton softball team claims second A-10 title in program history

“I think it’s just a validation of our processes,” said coach Cara Clark, who’s in her 17th season, on Monday. “Over the course of the season, we’ve had quite a few setbacks and things thrown our way, but we just kind of stick with our process and who we are. You maintain that focus, and it’s really paid off for us.”

Dayton last won the A-10 in 2015 when it finished 39-14 overall and 20-2 in the A-10. The Flyers set a school record for victories that season. Dayton was the No. 1 seed in the A-10 tournament but lost to Fordham in the A-10 title game in Amherst, Mass.

Dayton is again the top seed in the tournament this week and will play No. 4 seed Fordham (25-27-1, 15-11) or No. 5 Massachusetts (18-33, 14-12) at noon Thursday. The double-elimination tournament will take place at Fordham’s Bahoshy Softball Complex in Bronx, N.Y.

“This is a veteran, experienced team,” Clark said. “They know what to expect. The conference tournament was literally at Fordham last year, so it’s kind of like a rerun, so to speak, with a lot of our routines. We’re staying at the same hotel. We’ve got a good system in place. I think that provides some comfort. There’s not a lot of new things that are getting thrown at this group. They’ve kind of been there and done that. So I think that builds their confidence.”

Three different programs have won the A-10 tournament in the last three years: George Mason; Fordham; and George Washington.

Dayton seeks its first A-10 tournament championship and first NCAA tournament berth. Clark, who was named A-10 Coach of the Year on Tuesday, said the key ingredient in the team’s success this season has been staying consistent every day and doing the little things well.

“We’re pretty detail oriented and and focused on some of the accomplishments that we want to do within the game,” she said, “and we try not to look too far ahead. We really try to stay in the present and focused. We’ve got some measurables that we track per inning and pitch. I just feel like the accumulation of those little details have really added up to some of the success overall.”

Four Flyers were named to the all-conference first team Tuesday:

• Junior pitcher Haven Dwyer, who was 13-5 with a 2.95 ERA in 35 appearances.

• Junior second baseman Maddie Kapsimalis, who led the team with a .349 average, eight home runs and 43 RBIs.

• And freshman shortstop Kirnan Bailey, who hit .299 and was also named to the all-rookie team.

Three players made the second team:

• Junior center fielder Emma Schutter, who leads the team with 53 hits and 33 runs scored and also was named the A-10 Defensive Player of the Year

• Junior third baseman Chloe Wong, who hit .338 with 10 doubles.

• Sophomore first baseman Molly Grace, who hit .262 with 10 doubles.

• And sophomore pitcher Izzy Kemp, who was 10-6 with a 1.91 ERA in 26 appearances.

Dayton pitchers led the A-10 with a 2.53 ERA. Kemp posted an ERA under 2.00 for the second straight season. She was 13-8 with a 1.05 ERA in 36 appearances last season.

“She does not have as many innings as she did last year,” Clark said, “and we’ve been pretty intentional and deliberate about having her in the circle for some meaningful moments in the regular season. She’s been able to maximize those opportunities.”

Dwyer allowed three earned runs in her last nine appearances of the regular season.

“She’s been on fire,” Clark said. “She’s subtle and flies under the radar because she doesn’t have the same power and strikeout numbers, but slowly and steadily, she’s just racking up the wins and feeding the defense and tearing apart opposing offenses.”

Dayton’s offense leads the A-10 with 95 stolen bases. That’s 30 more than the second-best team. Dayton ranks 15th in the country in stolen bases per game (1.94).

Dayton ranked second in the A-10 in walks (180) in the regular season.

“We get on base a ton and definitely can be a threat when we do get on base,” Clark said. “We don’t have huge power numbers, but we create a lot of scoring opportunities with our speed and our consistency.”