Photo by: Saint Mary's Athletics / Tod Fierner
SB | Vasquez Named WCC Pitcher of the Year, Garnett Named Coach of the Year, Eight Gaels Named as All-WCC Honorees
5/12/2026 2:01:00 PM | Softball
SAN BRUNO, Calif. — For the third consecutive year, the Saint Mary's softball team has had at least eight student-athletes honored by the West Coast Conference as all-conference performers, headlined by 2026 WCC Pitcher of the Year Odhi Vasquez and 2026 WCC Coach of the Year Sonja Garnett. In total, eight different Gaels were honored with All-WCC recognition, just one shy of the program record of nine set in 2024, and two shy of the conference record of 10 set by BYU in 2022.
Saint Mary's Softball has achieved unprecedented success this year, and pulling all the strings is Head Coach Sonja Garnett. Now in her eighth season at the helm, Garnett smashed her previous record of most wins in a single season, which previously sat at 30, with 40 wins (and counting) this year. Leading the Gaels to their third WCC Title in as many years, Garnett's 68 wins over the last two seasons and 98 wins over the last three are the most by a Saint Mary's coach in those time spans. With 168 wins in her tenure, Garnett is the second-winningest coach in program history, and holds the highest win percentage of any coach in program history. This is her second WCC Coach of the Year award, also earning this honor in 2024. She is the fourth coach in West Coast Conference history to earn this honor multiple times.
In Saint Mary's Softball history, no player has picked up more wins in the circle as Odhi Vasquez. The cherry on top of her illustrious Gael career has been a 19-4 season with a WCC-best 141 strikeouts and 2.36 ERA, earning her her second WCC Pitcher of the Year honor. Vasquez led the WCC this year in several categories including wins (19), saves (7), complete games (13), strikeouts (141), ERA (2.36) and WHIP (1.23), becoming the Gaels' winningest pitcher in program history, now with a career record of 50-25. She became just the second pitcher in program history to record 400 strikeouts, and was five times named as the WCC Pitcher of the Week, including a National Pitcher of the Week nod after recording three victories over ranked opponents at the Stanford Round Robin. In conference play, Vasquez was dominant as ever, going 6-2 with a 1.95 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP, appearing in 14 of the Gaels 18 WCC contests. She becomes the third over WCC student-athlete to earn the Pitcher of the Year award multiple times in her career, and also earns her second career first team All-WCC nod. After earning second team All-WCC honors as a freshman and sophomore, Vasquez is the conference's second-ever four-time All-WCC honoree.
Joining Vasquez as first team All-WCC honorees are Sam Buckley, Alex Cutonilli and Hannah Ferguson. This is the first time in program history that Saint Mary's has had more than two student-athletes honored as first team All-WCC selections. Buckley earned her third consecutive first team nod after hitting .352 this year and leading the WCC with a .521 on-base percentage. Only a junior, Buckley broke the program home run record this year, as her 11 blasts this season ran her tally to 29 for her career. Cutonilli was named an honorable mention All-WCC honoree as a freshman, and now makes her debut on the first team as a junior. A massive bat in the middle of the Gael lineup this season, Cutonilli hit .323 with 18 extra-base hits and 41 RBI. Her 41 RBI tied for the second most in single-season program history. Rounding out the group of first team honorees is Hannah Ferguson. Returning from an injury that kept her sidelined all of last year, Ferguson was a stalwart at the top of the Gaels' order, leading the team with a .422 average, leading the conference with 50 runs scored (a new single season program record) and leading the country with 10 triples (also a new single season program record). Ferguson also shattered the program career triples (15) and stolen base (62) records. This is Ferguson's second first team nod, and third All-WCC honor overall after being named to the second team as a freshman.
Earning second team All-WCC honors are Braxton Brown and Victoria Castillo. Brown put together the best numbers of her three year Gael career, earning her first all-conference nod. The Benicia native smashed the program single season RBI record that sat at 41 to begin the year with 53 RBI this season, still with at least two games to go. Her 14 doubles also led the team and ranked in the top-five in the WCC. Senior Victoria Castillo earned her second straight second team All-WCC nod after continuing to be a model of consistency for the Gaels. She is batting .347 in her final season of competition, and set new career marks for hits, home runs, RBI and walks.
Rounding out the group of honorees are Madeline Haun, who was named both to the All-Freshman team and an honorable mention All-WCC honoree, and Camille Lara, who earned an honorable mention nod. Just a true freshman, Haun solidified herself as the Gaels' number two starter behind Vasquez. Amassing a record of 9-3 her debut season, Haun performed well beyond her freshman status as a trusted arm for Coach Garnett. Lara continued her trajectory as one of the top of the order hitters in the WCC, batting .307 with her second straight 50+ hit season. She also played a stellar left field, making countless highlight reel plays.
#GaelsRise
Saint Mary's Softball has achieved unprecedented success this year, and pulling all the strings is Head Coach Sonja Garnett. Now in her eighth season at the helm, Garnett smashed her previous record of most wins in a single season, which previously sat at 30, with 40 wins (and counting) this year. Leading the Gaels to their third WCC Title in as many years, Garnett's 68 wins over the last two seasons and 98 wins over the last three are the most by a Saint Mary's coach in those time spans. With 168 wins in her tenure, Garnett is the second-winningest coach in program history, and holds the highest win percentage of any coach in program history. This is her second WCC Coach of the Year award, also earning this honor in 2024. She is the fourth coach in West Coast Conference history to earn this honor multiple times.
In Saint Mary's Softball history, no player has picked up more wins in the circle as Odhi Vasquez. The cherry on top of her illustrious Gael career has been a 19-4 season with a WCC-best 141 strikeouts and 2.36 ERA, earning her her second WCC Pitcher of the Year honor. Vasquez led the WCC this year in several categories including wins (19), saves (7), complete games (13), strikeouts (141), ERA (2.36) and WHIP (1.23), becoming the Gaels' winningest pitcher in program history, now with a career record of 50-25. She became just the second pitcher in program history to record 400 strikeouts, and was five times named as the WCC Pitcher of the Week, including a National Pitcher of the Week nod after recording three victories over ranked opponents at the Stanford Round Robin. In conference play, Vasquez was dominant as ever, going 6-2 with a 1.95 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP, appearing in 14 of the Gaels 18 WCC contests. She becomes the third over WCC student-athlete to earn the Pitcher of the Year award multiple times in her career, and also earns her second career first team All-WCC nod. After earning second team All-WCC honors as a freshman and sophomore, Vasquez is the conference's second-ever four-time All-WCC honoree.
Joining Vasquez as first team All-WCC honorees are Sam Buckley, Alex Cutonilli and Hannah Ferguson. This is the first time in program history that Saint Mary's has had more than two student-athletes honored as first team All-WCC selections. Buckley earned her third consecutive first team nod after hitting .352 this year and leading the WCC with a .521 on-base percentage. Only a junior, Buckley broke the program home run record this year, as her 11 blasts this season ran her tally to 29 for her career. Cutonilli was named an honorable mention All-WCC honoree as a freshman, and now makes her debut on the first team as a junior. A massive bat in the middle of the Gael lineup this season, Cutonilli hit .323 with 18 extra-base hits and 41 RBI. Her 41 RBI tied for the second most in single-season program history. Rounding out the group of first team honorees is Hannah Ferguson. Returning from an injury that kept her sidelined all of last year, Ferguson was a stalwart at the top of the Gaels' order, leading the team with a .422 average, leading the conference with 50 runs scored (a new single season program record) and leading the country with 10 triples (also a new single season program record). Ferguson also shattered the program career triples (15) and stolen base (62) records. This is Ferguson's second first team nod, and third All-WCC honor overall after being named to the second team as a freshman.
Earning second team All-WCC honors are Braxton Brown and Victoria Castillo. Brown put together the best numbers of her three year Gael career, earning her first all-conference nod. The Benicia native smashed the program single season RBI record that sat at 41 to begin the year with 53 RBI this season, still with at least two games to go. Her 14 doubles also led the team and ranked in the top-five in the WCC. Senior Victoria Castillo earned her second straight second team All-WCC nod after continuing to be a model of consistency for the Gaels. She is batting .347 in her final season of competition, and set new career marks for hits, home runs, RBI and walks.
Rounding out the group of honorees are Madeline Haun, who was named both to the All-Freshman team and an honorable mention All-WCC honoree, and Camille Lara, who earned an honorable mention nod. Just a true freshman, Haun solidified herself as the Gaels' number two starter behind Vasquez. Amassing a record of 9-3 her debut season, Haun performed well beyond her freshman status as a trusted arm for Coach Garnett. Lara continued her trajectory as one of the top of the order hitters in the WCC, batting .307 with her second straight 50+ hit season. She also played a stellar left field, making countless highlight reel plays.
#GaelsRise
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