With the bats ready to kick off another great Wolfpack softball season, it’s time to see how the Pack changed from last season.
NC State is looking to break a two-year hiatus from the postseason. Head coach Lindsay Leftwich takes her third year at the helm, and after a lackluster end to the 2025 season, the Pack is on the path to redemption. She enters this season with a roster shaped by key returners and new additions. Here are the players you should be watching out for this season.
Best Batter: Hannah Church
After transferring from Ohio State for the 2025 season, senior utility Hannah Church fit right into Raleigh. Church is looking to repeat her last year, as she led the team in homers with 19, and was second in hits with 50. She will be an important leader for Leftwich, and her split roles behind the plate and on the field give the Pack a dependable weapon.
Church will likely be the best hitter this year after star designated hitter Taylor Ensley graduated. Ensley handed the reins off to Church to be the powerhouse hitter on the Pack, and Church is ready to step into the role. Expect her to have some big home runs this season and be the offensive anchor that the Pack needs.
Best Pitcher: Wynne Gore
Redshirt junior Wynne Gore is ready to jump back into the circle for her third season with the Pack. After suffering a season-ending injury during her sophomore season, it was unclear if she would be the same pitcher. But in the 2025 season, she proved she still had it, and with 63 strikeouts and a 4.04 ERA, she showed Leftwich what she needed to see.
Watch for Gore to stand above the rest and have a heavier workload for the Pack this season. She only had 13 starts last year, but expect that number to dramatically increase as she returns to Raleigh as one of the staff’s primary pitchers.
Freshman of the Year: Lily Livingston
While it’s always tough to make a lot of noise in your freshman year, Lily Livingston comes to the table with serious accolades for a high school graduate. The Arab, Alabama native was First Team All-State for softball and two time Second Team All-State in basketball during her high school career.
Livingston was named to the D1 Softball Top 100 Freshman Preseason Watchlist, and she’s known for her arm strength and her ability to make highlight-level throws. She’s a good weapon for any pitcher to have behind them and is likely to make an immediate impact on the game.
Transfer of the Year: Maia Townsend
After spending her last three seasons at LSU, outfielder Maia Townsend is sending off her last season with the Pack. Townsend played in 72 games, scored 22 runs, had a single hit and eight at-bats for the Tigers.
Townsend brings a great fielding element to the game, a part that the Wolfpack looks to improve on last season, as it posted 70 errors. Townsend can clean up some of the errors and be a dependable glove in the outfield. Her speed is also a big part of her game, so pinch runner situations are where she will thrive; she had five stolen bases during her time at LSU.
Breakout Player of the Year: Kendall Simmers
It was no question that sophomore infielder Kendall Simmers had a freshman season to remember. She set the program’s freshman home run record last season with 13, and was the only freshman on the team to start all 54 games. She finished her freshman campaign with a batting average of .316 and slugging .605.
Simmers is ready to take everything she did last season and amplify it. Expect for her to have a sophomore breakout season and for her to emerge as one of the clear leaders on the team.
