Play to Win: The 2025 1L Softball Championship

Photo Credits: Benvin Lozada ’28

The Law Weekly considered not letting us write this article for two reasons: first, we authors are ourselves Section J softball players, posing an unassailable objectivity concern to the journalistic integrity of our reporting; and second, the tournament was super predictable and ended exactly how everyone knew it was going to go, so there’s hardly anything interesting to say.

Nonetheless, since we’ve convinced the executive board to permit us a humble 1,000 words, we pulled together the scraps to recap, sans bias, the 2025 1L Softball Tournament.

Saturday was the culmination of the 1L softball season, during which eleven sections hashed it out for a fair shot at the championship, and it was Section J’s “anybody’s” game to win.

Before 1Ls even took up their bats, certain 1L sections began asking themselves, “should we play to win?” (i.e., play our ten best players?), or, “should we play our whole team?” The sections’ strategies were split, setting the stage for some wild matchups.

Batting off at 9:00 a.m., C came away with the win against A. “We hit dingerz with nineteen-ouncers and our whole team is on injury reserve,” recapped C’s Tanner Noronha-Weeks ’28, while he held a cold Diet Coke to his nearly-fractured collarbone. Finger splints, ice packs, and heat patches were passed around C like it was a Halloween candy swap. C might have taken the W, but what did A do to them? It remains a mystery.

The LLMs, having disposed of Section B, took on Section J, a rematch showdown from their previous tied match. With tensions running high, the LLMs’ Gjorgi Naumoski ’26 approached J’s Genevieve Wilson ’28, snatched the ball cap off her head and said “We will torture [Section J],” before bursting into laughter. Despite the hilarious mind games and the possible tort claim, Section J came away victorious, 10–5.

Section E arrived at Park Six, freshly rested and, as indicated by their eye black, prepared to handle business. E boasted one of the league’s most talented rosters, captained by Jane Fitzgerald ’28 and Ben Leonard ’28, and rounded out by stars Nick “Pit Viper” Smith ’28, Joe Vondrachek ’28, and more. Section C’s Nico Ellis ’28 and Philip Bishara ’28 made spectacular plays in the field to hold E’s relentless offense at bay, but E prevailed. (Please carry C’s books if you see them; they are hurting.)

Tensions simmered before the J v. E game. J took an early lead by way of some incredible at-bats by Sam Koeppel ’28 and Chayton Gray ’28; base coverage by Caleb Sampson ’28, Zahra Chittalia, Beth Vander Hoek ’28; and outfielding by Ben Purnell ’28 and Toby Spain ’28. An absolute bomb by E’s Vondrachek, which scored three runs, tied the game. E, meaning business, walked Sampson. At the bottom of the seventh inning, J was up by two runs. J walked Vondrachek, to a roar of booing from E’s bench. While we all would have loved to sear another Vondrachek home run into our memories to carry us through the gloomy winter, the game is the game. J’s Purnell sealed the deal with a beautiful catch to send J to their rightful place in the finals.

Over on Copeley, the semi-finals matchup between F and D was so passionate that we could hear it from Park Six. F stormed out the gate to a commanding lead, boosted by walks from D’s pitchers. After falling behind, 10–2, D crept back into the game, aided by a three-run home run by David Miller ’28. As D came to plate in the bottom of the 7th, the score stood at 12–9. But D’s comeback fell just short, with F’s pitcher Shayan Alipourjeddi ’28 inducing a ground ball which was fielded cleanly by shortstop Justis Dixon ’28 to end the game and send them to the championship.

The final game came down to F and J, two teams playing their whole roster: J with twenty-one players in their batting lineup, and F with twenty. The final teams having so much of their section involved was exhilarating. A massive first inning for both teams lead to a 4–4 score. F’s Amanda Magen ’28 moved her team around the bases. J’s Sonia Singh ’28 made fantastic plays at the plate. The mere sight of John Park ’28 in the outfield sent shivers down spines. But the pitchers, J’s Ethan Benson ’28 and F’s Alipourjeddi, soon became the stars of the show. Benson, who had an incredible day, didn’t let up a run for the next five innings. Alipourjeddi, smiling as he threw every single pitch, held off a lot of great batters. But in the bottom of the fifth inning, J’s Emily Kopp ’28 scored a critical fifth run for J.

It all came down to this: the top of the seventh inning, with J up 5–4, two outs, a man on first and third. At the mound, Benson dropped his shoulders, looked to his left to Vander Hoek and Chittalia, looked to his right to Sampson and Koeppel, and turned to the outfield. He told J that one more out would make them champions. He pitched, the batter made contact, sending the ball flying to the outfield. Spain, in left field, rushed forward. The ball fell right into his glove, breaking F’s hearts. The outfield ran, whooping, onto the diamond. Benson rushed towards his team. The rest of J ran onto the field into a frenzy of high-fives and cheers. Section J were champions which no one was surprised by at all.

It would be impossible to name every standout player from every section; it would even be impossible to name every standout player from just one section. Softball is a team sport. Shoutout to all of the 1Ls and LLMs who played all season, and to the captains for encouraging so much softball participation in this awesome season.

Special thanks to the NGSL umpiring team, head umpire Alexander Wilfert ’26, and commissioner Buddy Palmer ’26, for arranging the season and tournament, for the food, and for dealing with 1Ls all season that disagreed with their very reasonable calls.

For many, this would be the last time that these sections played together. But make no mistake, softball at the Law School is just getting started. Don’t hang up those dusty cleats and gloves just yet. If you need a team to join in the spring, just ask around.

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Alexis Pudvan ’28 — nrt9un@virginia.edu

Sam Koeppel ’28 — bjp4zx@virginia.edu