Elon’s softball season came to an end May 11, in the Southern Conference tournament after falling to the College of Charleston Cougars, 4-2. The Phoenix finishes the campaign with an overall record of 24-27 with a 9-15 mark in Southern Conference play.

After dropping the first game of the double elimination tournament to second-seeded Chattanooga, Elon picked up back to back wins in the losers bracket with a 7-3 win over Western Carolina and a 4-0 victory over host Appalachian State before falling to the Cougars.

Though they finished the season with a sub-.500 record, the young team gained a lot of experience playing in close games that will only help them moving forward toward next season.

“Almost all the games we played in were really close games,” Bocock said. “When you have experienced players who have been in the situation a lot more, it helps. I think that’s going to be a big thing for us next year. They’ve been there and they’ve done it, so it’s going to be a big thing going to next year.”

With the loss, the program says goodbye to its three seniors: catcher Kaitlyn Piazzolla, pitcher Erin O’Shea and shortstop Danielle Lafferty. Each leaves Elon having left their mark on both the program and the record books.

“They’re competitors,” Bocock said. “They’re great players and they’ve done a lot for the Elon softball program. Hopefully they’ve rubbed off on some of these kids, because that’ll help us down the road.”

Piazzolla departs the program third all-time with 23 home runs, and fourth in putouts with 823.

“The home runs thing is a nice added extra, but hopefully what I’ve shown is that I’m a leader and I’m someone that these girls could look up to,” Piazzolla said. “I think between Danielle, Erin and I, I feel like we’ve had an impact on every teammate we’ve been with.”

Erin O’Shea leaves as the program’s all-time leader in game appearances with 128, and second all-time in career strikeouts with 464 while Lafferty comes in fourth in Elon history with 325 fielding assists.

Looking ahead to next year, this team gets a year older as it returns it’s top three offensive threats from this season in Tomeka Watson, Camille Hill and Carleigh Nester.

“I think this team has a very good chance next season,” Piazzolla said. “They’re going to have new leaders which will be good, but I really like their chances.”