COLUMBUS, Ga. – Berry College was crowned champions of the 2026 Division III Leadoff Classic presented by MaxBP at the South Commons Complex. The Vikings went 5-1 over the three days, and by virtue of their win over Trine, were declared the 2026 tournament victors.
Berry thumped Spalding 12-2 in five innings, scoring five in the first, three in the second and third and one more in the fourth. A three-run homer by Kennedy Moody sparked the big first inning, and Erica Bennett’s bases-loaded triple highlighted the third. Moody, Bennett and Brooke Thompson finished with three RBI apiece. They capped off their five straight wins with a convincing 13-3 triumph over Bethel in five innings. After falling behind 2-0 in the first, Berry took control of the game with consecutive five-run innings in the second and third. Lauren Cothem crushed a three-run homer in the second.
The Vikings bounced back from a tournament-opening loss to DePauw with five consecutive wins. Berry posted consecutive shutouts against No. 8 East Texas Baptist and Denison, along with a 6-4 victory over No. 1 Trine.
Also posting 5-1 marks over the weekend were Trine, Pfeiffer and Huntingdon.
Trine capped off the weekend posting nine runs in each of its wins over No. 8 ETBU (9-4) and Gettysburg (9-2, 5 inn.). The top-ranked Thunder opened their tournament with 11-3 (5) and 7-4 victories over Bethel and Pacific Lutheran. They added another win on Saturday, edging No. 24 Belhaven, 6-4.
After dropping a tough extra-inning game to Belhaven in its opener, Pfeiffer rattled off five straight to close out the tournament. The Falcons rebounded on Friday with a 5-3 win over LaGrange and followed that up with victories over Gettysburg (5-3) and No. 14 Huntingdon (1-0) on Saturday and Pacific Lutheran (3-2) and Pomona-Pitzer (7-2) on Sunday.
The 14th-ranked Hawks won their first three contests against Gettysburg, Bethel, Saint Benedict, and after its 1-0 loss to Pfeiffer, they trumped No. 4 Saint Mary’s (7-6) and Cortland (9-4) to close out their weekend.
College of Saint Benedict won its final three games, including two on Sunday to finish the tournament 4-2. The Bennies held off a late rally by Saint Mary’s to earn a 7-6 win and capped off their tournament run with another one-run win, this time against Mount Union, 5-4.
Joining CSB in the four-win column this weekend were ETBU, Saint Mary’s, Belhaven and DePauw. Both the Blazers and Tigers closed out Sunday with two triumphs.
Also closing out their tournament with a win on Sunday were Denison, Saint Mary’s, ETBU, Gettysburg, LaGrange, Stevens, Maryville and Emory. Emory ended the tournament in fine fashion with a two-run walk-off home run to edge Maryville, 6-4.
You can watch replays of the games courtesy of the live-stream cameras
at the South Commons Complex. Access to those contests are located in the video vault and time stamped for each day. Select South Commons from the drop down menu, select video vault, select field and select date. Please note Sunday’s games will be available on Monday, March 9.
All-Tournament Team
Kaleigh Stevenson, Belhaven
Ava Fouts, Berry
Sid Barthels, Bethel
Laila Smith, Cortland
Madi Moffitt, Denison
Alex Romero Salas, DePauw
Avery Holland, East Texas Baptist
Allie Stevenson, Emory
Audrey Bergan, Gettysburg
Kylie Stephens, Huntingdon
Jenna Yeary, LaGrange
Sydney Dickinson, Maryville
Kendyll Cahill, Mount Union
Paola Garcia, Pacific Lutheran
Mollie Bulla, Pfeiffer
Audrey Reimers, Pomona-Pitzer
Olivia Tautges, Saint Benedict
Peyton Berg, Saint Mary's
Carsyn Sidebottom, Spalding
Emma Quattrochi, Stevens
Avery Parsons, Transylvania
Tyra Marcum, Trine
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