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Softball phenom Keagan Rothrock lifts Roncalli to unprecedented heights

Roncalli’s Keagan Rothrock competes during the Carmel Softball Invitational on April 23 in Carmel, Ind. (The Indianapolis Star via USA TODAY NETWORK)

Keagan Rothrock was 6 years old when she started pitching. And she admittedly wasn’t very good.

“I could not throw strikes,” Rothrock said. “I went to lessons a lot.”

But a lot has changed in 11 years.

Rothrock now boasts an impressive resume as a dual threat both in the circle and in the batter’s box. During her 2022 high school season at Roncalli (Ind.), she recorded a 0.70 ERA and a .529 batting average, earning Gatorade National Softball Player of the Year honors along the way.

It was one for the history books as the Royals shattered records in extra-base hits, total bases, slugging percentage and errorless games. They’ve won 46 consecutive games, one shy of tying the state’s record, and with Rothrock in the pitcher’s circle, the Royals became back-to-back Class 4A state champions.

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The Roncalli softball team hoists the trophy after winning a Class 4A sectional final on May 25. (The Indianapolis Star via USA TODAY NETWORK)

“It was a really good feeling knowing all of our hard work paid off in the end. It was really rewarding,” Rothrock said.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, Rothrock secured the victory. She faced her last batter in what she calls a longer at-bat — five pitches. Rothrock’s first two pitches were strikes. Her third pitch — a rise ball — was a little too out of the zone. The batter fouled off the next pitch. With the count at 1-2, Rothrock delivered a fifth and final pitch. The batter swung and missed, and the Royals were once again state champs.

Roncalli fans were jubilant, as Rothrock threw off her mask and glove with a swarm of Royals enveloping her.

“She’s a fierce competitor,” Roncalli coach David Lauck said. “… The effort she puts in to be great is recognized by her teammates. She’s our hardest worker, our best player, our best leader.”

Rothrock has also shined on the international stage as well. As a member of the USA Softball U-18 Women’s National Team, Rothrock competed in the 2021 Junior Pan American Games and World Baseball Softball Confederation Women’s Softball World Cup, where she helped Team USA win a pair of gold medals. She amassed 37 strikeouts and allowed just one hit while recording an impressive 0.00 ERA throughout the two tournaments.

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Keagan Rothrock competes last year for the USA Softball U-18 Women's National Team. (Photo courtesy of USA Softball)

In the offseason, she worked to improve her batting. She led Roncalli with 14 home runs, a 366 percent increase from the year before, and she recorded 55 RBIs.

In the circle, she compiled a 28-0 record with eight no-hitters and five perfect games, but despite her eye-popping numbers on the field, Rothrock was still surprised by the award.

“It still surprises me every time I get something. I know there’s a ton of players who could get it,” she said.

Before the state championship game, Rothrock came to practice dressed for photos. As she walked up to the field, she saw big cameras everywhere and a crowd of familiar faces in the stands. The team practiced as usual, until Lauck stopped practice. Photographers made their way onto the field. Lined up for photos, Lauck delivered the good news, his voice booming over the loudspeaker.

“Keagan is not only an Indiana player of the year, she’s been named the Gatorade Player of the Year,” he said.

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Keagan Rothrock accepts the trophy for Gatorade National Softball Player of the Year. (Photy courtesy of Gatorade)

Roncalli sits 15 minutes from downtown Indianapolis. In a city known for passionate sports fans, the school’s softball team draws a crowd.

Rothrock and her teammates have become local celebrities of sorts. At the end of their games, they go out to meet the young fans. With softballs and phones in hand, the girls approach to get an autograph or picture.

“She’s kind of turned our community upside down,” Lauck said. “She’s available. She’s got open arms and a genuine personality that fans gravitate to.”

It started in 2021. After the 2020 season was canceled, the community began to buzz about the upcoming season.

“There was a lot of talk around Roncalli softball,” she said.

After fans started showing up in masses, it didn’t take long for the team to embrace their hometown fame.

“I love talking to all the little girls,” Rothrock said. “Just to be able to brighten their day, I had role models when I was younger. It’s nice to give back.”

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Roncalli pitcher Keagan Rothrock is greeted by catcher Anne Marie Meek after a strikeout on May 25 in a Class 4A sectional final. (The Indianapolis Star via USA TODAY NETWORK)

Rothrock picked up her first softball as a toddler. At age 3, she started playing tee-ball.

“Me and my mom would joke around in the backyard, she’d have me pitch,” Rothrock said.

Rothrock’s mother Laura pitched at Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne, and under Laura’s guidance, Keagan has been able to grow and perfect the craft.

At age 7, she joined her first travel team, aptly named the Indiana Gators. Soon, Rothrock will be a Florida Gator, a commitment she made in seventh grade.

“I’ve wanted to be a Gator forever. That was the initial reason. Once we got into the recruiting process, all of it was just awesome,” she said. “They’re one of the top schools in the country for education as well.”

School is also important to Rothrock. With a 4.06 GPA, Rothrock plans to pursue pre-med at Florida, with her sights set on becoming a pediatrician.

On and off the field, Rothrock is committed to succeeding. When she steps into the Gainesville locker room, she’ll be surrounded by familiar faces, having played with all but one of the girls in the 2023 class.

“She’ll have a lot of eyes when she steps onto campus,” Lauck said. “But I do feel like she’s excited, and I hope she’s a little nervous, too. That leads to her preparation. She just continues to prepare mentally, physically and spiritually.”

Lucky for Lauck, Rothrock has one final year with the Royals, and she plans to cherish every moment.

“[Memories] are going to last forever,” Rothrock said. “Not everybody gets to experience that.”

Nika Anschuetz is a contributing writer at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @nlanschuetz.

Oklahoma Wins 2025 NCAA Gymnastics Championship Title

Oklahoma gymnast Danae Fletcher lifts the 2025 NCAA championship trophy with her teammates.
Oklahoma has three of the last four NCAA gymnastics titles. (C. Morgan Engel/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)

No. 2-seed Oklahoma won their third NCAA gymnastics championship in four years on Saturday, topping fellow finalists No. 4 Utah, No. 5 UCLA, and No. 7 Missouri with an overall score of 198.0125.

With seven titles since 2014, Oklahoma regains its reputation as the sport's current dynasty, finishing atop the podium after falling short of a three-peat last year.

"Our theme wasn't redemption this year at all," Oklahoma head coach K.J. Kindler told reporters after Saturday's victory.

"Does it make it sweet? Yes, but this team was capable of this last year. We just failed. And people fail all the time. They fail every day. And we talk about [it] all the time that the glory is in getting back up again."

Freedom allowed Oklahoma to reclaim NCAA gymnastics crown

Last year, the then-defending champion Sooners stumbled in a shocking loss in the national semifinals, a fate the 2024 champion LSU squad similarly suffered last Thursday, when the top-seeded Tigers failed to advance to the final meet of 2025.

Between overcoming the semifinals hurdles themselves and seeing LSU ousted — arguably Oklahoma's biggest competition entering the weekend — the Sooners were able to breathe easier and enjoy their last competition of the season.

"After advancing, and we got to today, we were free," said senior Audrey Davis. "We had no weight on our shoulders. We were free to do our best gymnastics."

That freedom had the Sooners leading the charge, finishing their first rotation on beam tied with eventual runners-up UCLA before taking full control of the meet — Oklahoma grabbed a second-rotation lead on the floor and never relinquished it.

As for the rest of the field, Missouri earned a program-record third-place finish in their first-ever NCAA final, while nine-time champions Utah closed their season in fourth.

For Oklahoma senior Jordan Bowers, the final weekend of her collegiate career was one for the books.

In addition to the team title, Bowers won the individual all-around competition during Thursday's semifinals — a day that also crowned LSU’s Kailin Chio (vault), Missouri’s Helen Hu (beam), and UCLA's Jordan Chiles (uneven bars) and Brooklyn Moors (floor) as national apparatus champions.

"Just truly a fairytale ending," Bowers said on the ABC broadcast. "I'm so freaking proud of this team, and I'm so proud to be a Sooner."



Stanford Breaks NCAA Softball Attendance Record with ‘Big Swing’

An NCAA record crowd watches Stanford softball host Cal in the school's football stadium on Saturday.
Stanford welcomed over 13,000 fans to their record-setting Saturday game against Cal. (Eakin Howard/Getty Images)

Stanford shattered the NCAA softball attendance record this weekend, welcoming 13,207 fans inside the university’s football stadium for Saturday's "Big Swing"  game against Cal.

In the most-attended non-football contest in Stanford Athletics' history, the Cardinal softball crowd surpassed the sport's previous attendance record of 12,566, set on the first day of the 2024 Women's College World Series (WCWS) in Oklahoma City.

The history-making game also blew past the NCAA softball regular-season record of 9,259 fans, a feat reached less than two weeks ago when reigning champions Oklahoma defeated local rivals Oklahoma State on April 9th.

"It was kind of like a mini College World Series experience," Stanford junior outfielder Kyra Chan said after the game.

Despite dropping the record-breaking matchup 10-8 to their new ACC rivals, No. 16 Stanford ultimately secured the three-game series against the Golden Bears with wins on Thursday and Friday.

Friday's 9-3 victory was particularly impactful, clinching the Cardinal a spot in their first-ever ACC championship tournament next month — the first postseason stop as Stanford hunts a third-straight appearance in the WCWS semifinals.

Nebraska volleyball lines up on the court for the August 2023 Volleyball Day in the university's football stadium.
Nebraska volleyball broke the overall US women's sports attendance record in 2023. (Steven Branscombe/Getty Images)

Stanford softball fuels argument for larger women's sports venues

Softball isn't the only sport leading the recent surge in record-breaking NCAA women's sports crowds.

After shifting a volleyball match into its football stadium in August 2023, Nebraska welcomed not just the sport's biggest crowd, but the largest to ever attend any women's sporting event in the US.

Shortly thereafter, Iowa's "Crossover at Kinnick" blasted through the NCAA women's basketball attendance mark by moving an exhibition game featuring the Caitlin Clark-led Hawkeyes into the university's football venue.

Though the move to massive football stadiums was intentional to snag both Nebraska's and Iowa's respective records, Stanford's venue shift was not initially an attendance-hunting move.

The Cardinal's entire 2025 softball season is being played on the gridiron as the team's new $50 million stadium and state-of-the-art training facility is under construction.

Taking advantage of that added capacity was a no-brainer, with Stanford specifically branding and marketing their rivalry "Big Swing" game to capitalize on their temporary digs — and to continue making the overall case for expanding women's sports' venues.

"I think that you see a consistent theme that there aren't big enough venues for women's sports to be able to draw the fans that they can draw," Stanford softball head coach Jessica Allister pointed out.

"Hopefully, a lot of people who showed up to Stanford for the first time to watch a softball game will come back and see us in our beautiful stadium."

Missing Rodman, Injury-Struck Washington Downs 2024 NWSL Champ Orlando

Washington Spirit forward Makenna Morris celebrates striker Gift Monday's game-winning goal against Orlando on Saturday.
Gift Monday scored the lone goal in Washington's Saturday. win over Orlando. (Rich Storry/NWSL via Getty Images)

The Washington Spirit scored another unlikely victory on Saturday, snapping the Orlando Pride's 22-game home unbeaten streak with a narrow 1-0 win — fueled by newly signed Nigerian striker Gift Monday's debut NWSL goal.

"We knew it was going to be a fight," Spirit goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury said after the game. "We know they're physical, so we came [and] we matched that."

Washington continues to eke out wins despite a depleted roster, with a full 11 players unavailable for Saturday’s 2024 NWSL championship rematch due to injury.

At the top of that injury list is star forward Trinity Rodman, with the 22-year-old's agent telling The Washington Post that she's "taking time away from team activities" to meet with a club doctor in London about her lingering back issues.

Other noteworthy absences to the Spirit's current lineup include 2024 NWSL Rookie and Midfielder of the Year Croix Bethune (hip), defensive midfielder Hal Hershfelt (ankle), veteran defender Casey Krueger (knee), and French forward Ouleye Sarr (SEI – back).

Washington, however, continues finding ways to win, with the Spirit sitting third in the league standings, where they're tied with second-place Orlando on points.

That said, despite flipping the script against the reigning champs, the Spirit's roster woes — and, in particular, Rodman’s uncertain timeline — casts a shadow over the club's 2025 redemption tour.

Kansas City's Kayla Sharples celebrates a goal with her teammates on Saturday.
Kansas City is the only remaining unbeaten team in the 2025 NWSL season. (Jamie Squire/NWSL via Getty Images)

Kansas City rises atop the NWSL

Also benefitting from the Spirit's win was the Kansas City Current, who used both Washington's victory and their own comfortable 2-0 result against the 10th-place Houston Dash on Saturday to leapfrog the Pride and claim first place on the NWSL table.

With five wins in as many matchdays, the Current are now the league's only undefeated team remaining this season.

Angel City Falls to Gotham, Ends NWSL Unbeaten Streak

Alanna Kennedy and her Angel City teammates react to their first 2025 NWSL loss on Friday.
Angel City fell to Gotham in their first loss of the 2025 NWSL season on Friday. (Harry How/NWSL via Getty Images)

After a red-hot start to the 2025 NWSL season, Angel City saw their unbeaten streak squashed by a Gotham side that defeated the LA club 4-0 on Friday.

Failing to register a single shot on target against the NJ/NY club, ACFC's loss dropped their goal differential to -1, dropping the team to fifth on the NWSL table despite sitting tied with the now fourth-place Gotham on points.

Angel City's unexpected moonshot in the season's first four matchdays is still a strong sign for the 2022 expansion club, but Friday’s stumble underlines just how much more progress they’ll look to make under incoming manager Alexander Straus.

"We have a really young squad right now," said Angel City captain Sarah Gorden following the game. "And we just played a really experienced team. This is part of the process, and it's part of a long season."

Gotham's Esther and Jessica Silva high-five after defeating Angel City 4-0 on Friday.
Esther notched a brace in Gotham's 4-0 Friday victory. (Harry How/NWSL via Getty Images)

Gotham snags momentum with second major 2025 win

Bolstered by star forward Midge Purce's return — not to mention a brace from striker Esther — Saturday's win returned 2024 NWSL semifinalist Gotham to the league's upper echelon following an offseason roster overhaul and a mediocre 2025 season start.

Along with a victory over North Carolina last week, the NJ/NY club now holds significant season momentum with their two straight statement wins.

"We've been working very hard in training, and it's showing in the matches," said Esther. "Everyone is giving their all, and we're really united as a group."

Ultimately, while Angel City’s growing pains were perhaps inevitable, Gotham’s sudden surge after a slow start is shaking up the NWSL standings.

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