The Kimball Union Academy softball team plays in the highly competitive Lakes Region as well as against many top prep schools in New England. Anchored by a philosophy of overall athletic and character development, the program strives to develop players for college softball and to enhance the athleticism of the girls wanting to play another sport at the college level or simply wanting to play softball for the joy and camaraderie it brings.
Beginning in March, a typical week for the softball team involves practices, lifts, video sessions, and two or three games. Coaches place a heavy emphasis on individual skill development and physical strength, as well as team concepts and situational awareness. In the fall and winter, KUA’s indoor turf facility and batting cage allow for players to continue their softball training year-round.
Interested in learning more about KUA softball? Email Coach Underhill to hear more about the program.
Despite leading for the first five innings, the Wildcats ultimately fell to Tilton 11-10 in the final of the Lakes Region playoffs. Zoie Stevens had four hits to pace the offense for KUA, while Olivia Parker had two. Adi Runge, Lulu Leppard, Maddy Pope, Teegan Duffy, and Gabi Young also had hits for the Wildcats. A huge thank you goes out the Wildcat seniors -- Leppard, Duffy, and Paula Urena-Rojas -- for being leaders and for leaving the KUA softball uniform in a better place than it has ever been.
In the final Lakes Region game of the regular season, the Wildcats got three hits and a diving double play on defense from Zoie Stevens en route to beating New Hampton 17-4 on Saturday. Liv Parker, Lulu Leppard, and Michaela Cokinos each had two hits, while Adi Runge, Stella Kozak, Kristin Borella, and Hannah Young added hits as well. The win secures at least a tie at the top of the Lakes Region standings for KUA, and playoff seeding and formatting will be revealed in the next couple of days.
A nine-run third inning, highlighted by back-to-back home runs from Adi Runge and Lulu Leppard vaulted the Wildcats to a three-and-a-half inning run-rule victory over Proctor on Friday in Meriden. The Wildcats' three seniors - Leppard, Teegan Duffy, and Paula Urena-Rojas - all scored runs in the victory, while Leppard had three hits and Duffy led off the game with a double. Runge had two hits and five RBIs while Zoie Stevens, Liv Parker, and Kristin Borella also had hits and RBIs for KUA. Stella Kozak earned the win in the pitcher's circle, pitching all four innings and yielding only two hits while striking out five.
Despite leading for the first five innings, the Wildcats ultimately fell to Tilton 11-10 in the final of the Lakes Region playoffs. Zoie Stevens had four hits to pace the offense for KUA, while Olivia Parker had two. Adi Runge, Lulu Leppard, Maddy Pope, Teegan Duffy, and Gabi Young also had hits for the Wildcats. A huge thank you goes out the Wildcat seniors -- Leppard, Duffy, and Paula Urena-Rojas -- for being leaders and for leaving the KUA softball uniform in a better place than it has ever been.
In the final Lakes Region game of the regular season, the Wildcats got three hits and a diving double play on defense from Zoie Stevens en route to beating New Hampton 17-4 on Saturday. Liv Parker, Lulu Leppard, and Michaela Cokinos each had two hits, while Adi Runge, Stella Kozak, Kristin Borella, and Hannah Young added hits as well. The win secures at least a tie at the top of the Lakes Region standings for KUA, and playoff seeding and formatting will be revealed in the next couple of days.
A nine-run third inning, highlighted by back-to-back home runs from Adi Runge and Lulu Leppard vaulted the Wildcats to a three-and-a-half inning run-rule victory over Proctor on Friday in Meriden. The Wildcats' three seniors - Leppard, Teegan Duffy, and Paula Urena-Rojas - all scored runs in the victory, while Leppard had three hits and Duffy led off the game with a double. Runge had two hits and five RBIs while Zoie Stevens, Liv Parker, and Kristin Borella also had hits and RBIs for KUA. Stella Kozak earned the win in the pitcher's circle, pitching all four innings and yielding only two hits while striking out five.
The Wildcats got two home runs from Stella Kozak and one from Lulu Leppard to support an outstanding pitching performance from Adi Runge en route to a 13-1 road win at Phillips Exeter on Tuesday. Kozak went 4-for-4 on the day, with a single and a bases-loaded, bases-clearing double and six RBIs. Leppard had a 5-for-5 day that included a double and four RBIs to go along with her home run. Anna Baker (3 1B), Runge (1 1B, 1 2B), Zoie Stevens (2 1B), Teegan Duffy (1 1B), and Olivia Parker (1 1B) also added to KUA's hit totals. Runge went the distance in the circle and surrendered just three hits while striking out six.
With two out and the game tied at two in the fifth inning, Stella Kozak singled home Adi Runge for what would be the winning run in KUA's 3-2 win over an excellent St. Paul's team on Monday in Meriden. St. Paul's grabbed a 1-0 lead after the first inning, but the Wildcats pulled even in the bottom of the third when Olivia Parker walked, Anna Baker laid down a bunt single, and Runge singled home Parker to tie the game. St. Paul's took the lead back in the top half of the fourth, but KUA responded again when Maddy Pope put down a sacrifice bunt and heads-up base running from Kozak led to a St. Paul's error that allowed Kozak to score. Runge was outstanding on the mound, going the full seven innings while striking out five and allowing only two earned runs. Defensively, the infield of Baker, Kozak, Lulu Leppard, Parker, and Zoie Stevens behind the plate was outstanding, with Kozak making a game-saving play in the top of the seventh to prevent the tying run from scoring and Baker snagging a backhand liner before throwing to first for the final out.
Adi Runge and Anna Baker each had multiple hits and a home run to pace the offense as the Wildcats earned a 14-0 run-rule win over Holderness in the first game of a double-header on Saturday in Meriden. Runge and Stella Kozak combined to pitch five innings of four-hit, shutout ball while Lulu Leppard, Zoie Stevens, Maddy Pope, and Olivia Parker chipped in with hits and runs offensively.
Stella Kozak had five hits, including a three-run home run over onto Route 120, and seven RBIs to help lead the Wildcats to a double-header sweep of Holderness on Saturday in Meriden. Teegan Duffy led off the game with a triple and added three more hits to go along with two RBIs. Adi Runge, Maddy Pope, Anna Baker, and Lulu Leppard, who also homered, all had multi-hit, multi-RBI games. Olivia Parker and Kristin Borella also added hits for KUA. Baker earned the win in the circle by pitching three innings and striking out four before yielding to Kozak who recorded three strikeouts in the fourth inning as the four-inning run-rule was invoked to end the game.
Leading 7-0 in the bottom of the sixth inning, the Wildcats got a three-run home run from senior captain Lulu Leppard to walk off with a 10-0 run-rule victory over Cushing Academy on Wednesday in Meriden. Leppard was 3-for-4 with 5 RBIs on the day, while pitcher Adi Runge helped her own cause by going 4-for-4 with an RBI and 4 runs. Stella Kozak and Maddy Pope had multi-hit games for KUA while Zoie Stevens and Gabi Young added RBI singles to help pace the offence. Runge was outstanding in the pitcher's circle, throwing a complete game shutout while only allowing 3 hits and no walks while tallying 7 strikeouts.
Anna Baker had five hits, Adi Runge and Liv Parker each had four, Teegan Duffy, Gabi Young, and Stella Kozak each had three, and Lulu Leppard had two as the Wildcats ran away with a 29-2 win at Brewster in five innings in the first game of a double-header on Saturday. Zoie Stevens and Taylor Swett also added hits. Baker and Young each scored five times while Kozak, Parker, and Maddy Pope each scored four. Runge went all five innings in the circle for the while striking out seven.
In the second game of a double-header on Saturday at Brewster, the Wildcats played a tight game for four innings before breaking through for nine runs in the fifth en route to a five-inning run-rule win. Gabi Young, Anna Baker, Lulu Leppard, and Zoie Stevens had multi-hit games for KUA, with Leppard belting a home run and Stevens driving in five RBIs. Baker earned the win in the circle by going four innings, striking out five, and only giving up one run. Stella Kozak pitched a shutout inning in the fifth to close out the game.
The Wildcats sent 15 batters to the plate in the first inning and scored nine runs en route to an 18-0 four-inning victory over New Hampton on Wednesday. Pitchers Adi Runge and Anna Baker combined to throw a one-hitter, while they each helped their causes at the plate with four hits and four RBIs, and three hits and five RBIs respectively. Lulu Leppard had three hits, Zoie Stevens had two, and both Teegan Duffy and Olivia Parker each had one. Gabi Young and Stella Kozak each reached base and scored three times.
The bats were hot at Tilton on Monday, as the Wildcats put up 12 runs, but Tilton held strong for a 14-12 win in a rematch of Saturday’s 3-2 pitcher's duel that saw Tilton earned the win as well. On Monday, Stella Kozak had three hits, including a home run, and six RBIs for KUA while Adi Runge added a home run and two hits of her own. Maddy Pope belted a double and a triple for the Wildcats while Anna Baker, Lulu Leppard, and Zoie Stevens scored multiple times each.
In an evenly matched game, both teams scattered seven hits and were flawless defensively, but the Wildcats fell just short, falling 3-2 to Tilton on Saturday. Adi Runge pitched a strong game for KUA, going the distance and striking out five. Anna Baker and Teegan Duffy each had two hits for KUA, while Kristin Borella, Stella Kozak, and Lulu Leppard each added a hit. Both teams have a 48-hour turnaround before facing each other again on Monday at Tilton.
Adi Runge, Lulu Leppard, and Stella Kozak all blasted home runs while Anna Baker earned the win in the pitcher's circle as the Wildcats earned a 22-5 win at Proctor on Friday. Runge homered during the game's second at-bat, while Leppard had five hits and seven RBIs, including two on a two-run home run in the fourth inning. Kozak was three-for-four with six RBIs, four of which came courtesy of a grand slam that cleared the left field fence by 30+ feet. Zoie Stevens, Gabi Young, Kristin Borella, and Olivia Parker also had RBIs, while Paula Urena-Rojas had two hits.
Pitcher Adi Runge gave up only four hits and struck out six to lead the Wildcats to a 16-1 victory over St. Paul's in KUA's first Lakes Region game of the season at the Sportsdome in Goffstown. The KUA offense was strong all night, as senior captain Lulu Leppard went 4-for-4 with six RBIs and junior Zoie Stevens went 2-for-3 with a walk, a triple, a homerun, and four RBIs. Freshman Gabi Young also belted a triple and drove in four while senior Teegan Duffy went 2-for-3 with a double and two runs scored. Stella Kozak scored three runs while Runge helped her own cause with a hit, three walks, an RBI, and four runs scored. Freshman Kristin Borella also scored to help the offense. Next up for KUA is a Friday night matchup at Proctor on April 19th.
A 5-4 game at the midpoint turned ugly for the Wildcats as Brooks put seven runs up in the bottom of the fourth en route to a 14-4 win. KUA jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the top of the first, as freshman Anna Baker walked in the leadoff spot and scored on a double by senior Lulu Leppard. Junior Zoie Stevens then belted a single, scoring Leppard. A strong-hitting Brooks team tied the game in the first with two runs of their own. In the third inning, with Brooks up 5-2, Baker led off with a home run over the left field fence, her first in a KUA uniform. Junior Adi Runge reached on a walk and an RBI double from Stevens scored her to make the game 5-4, but that was as close as the Wildcats came on the day. Next up, a Friday night match up at Brewster on April 5th.