BRIDGEWATER, N.J. — The NEC announced its 2026 major softball award winners and All-Conference teams on Wednesday afternoon. Six Wagner players earned All-NEC spots, headlined by junior pitcher
Karson Zavala winning the NEC Pitcher of the Year award.
Zavala is the first Seahawk to win a major NEC award since then-junior shortstop Kelsey Parker won the Most Improved Player honor in 2014.
Zavala finished the year with 10 wins and 114 strikeouts this season, earning three Pitcher of the Week nods throughout the season, punctuated by two 10-strikeout performances on March 15 (13 vs Stonehill), and March 28 (10 vs New Haven). Zavala's performance netted the Chino Hills, California native All-NEC first team honors and a second straight All-NEC season, after earning second team honors after the 2025 campaign. Zavala finished with the most strikeouts in the NEC (114), the second-lowest opponent BA (.262), and the third-lowest ERA (3.38) in 99.1 innings.
The lowest ERA in the NEC belonged to Zavala's rotation-mate, freshman
Samantha Lotus. The Fontana, California native finished the season with a 3.10 ERA across 126.1 innings, which helped her earn a spot on the NEC All-Rookie team. Lotus won NEC Co-Rookie of the Week on March 31, after throwing 10 shutout innings against New Haven over two appearances, picking up a win in the first game, and a save in the second.
Center fielder
Ava Nawrocki joined Lotus on the All-Rookie team. As an everyday starter, Nawrocki batted .230 with a .724 OPS and 14 runs scored, all best among Wagner freshmen. This is the second consecutive season where the Seahawks have sent multiple players to the All-Rookie team.
Joining Zavala on the All-NEC first team was junior third baseman
Sydnie Trujillo and sophomore designated player
Alayna Giampolo. Trujillo finished top-10 in the NEC in multiple offensive categories, including batting average, OPS, hits, and RBIs. The Moreno Valley, California native's best day came on March 21, when she recorded four hits and six RBIs in a doubleheader against Mercyhurst.
For Giampolo, the East Windsor, New Jersey native led the team with 11 stolen bases, and 138 at-bats, and was second on the team with 22 runs scored. Giampolo earned the NEC Player of the Week award during the first week of the season.
Both Trujillo and Giampolo each recorded 14 multi-hit games, with seven instances of the pair recording multiple hits in the same game.
To round off the All-NEC teams, junior second baseman
Leilani Gonzales earned a spot on the All-NEC second team. In 32 games, the Murrieta, California native batted .325 with an .847 OPS, being one of only four Seahawks with a slugging percentage higher than .400. Defensively, Gonzalez's .977 fielding percentage was second-highest on the team among players with more than 80 chances.
The Seahawks' six All-NEC recipients are the most since 2006, when Wagner had seven All-NEC players. It is also the first year with multiple All-NEC first team players since 2017, and the first year with three All-NEC first team players since 2009.
The Seahawks' return to the diamond on Thursday, May 7, when No. 3 Wagner takes on No. 2 CCSU in the first round of the NEC Softball Tournament. The 2026 NEC Tournament is hosted at the LIU Softball Complex in Brooklyn, NY. The Seahawks-Blue Devils match up is scheduled to start at 3 p.m. on ESPN+.
