VIRGINIA BEACH, VA (WTKR)- The softball field at Virginia Wesleyan is used to being busy when most of its counterparts at other schools are quiet. For the fifth consecutive season, the Marlins are in the NCAA Super Regional.
"It never gets old," head coach Brandon Elliott said. "That's where you want to be when you come in here, but it's extremely difficult to get to this point. Everybody's great, everybody's good and it's postseason softball, so survive and advance."
"You come here hoping to play in those high-pressure games," added freshman outfielder Morgan Tucker, whose 66 RBI in 2025 set a new program single-season record. "Coach talks about it all the time, 'you picked here to play in those high pressure games.' That's what you expect when you come here and that's what you get."
VWU enters this week's Super Regional with a record of 44-3-1, making it look easy. However, it's been anything but easy. Despite going through the preseason healthy, injuries have plagued the Marlins throughout the campaign. The list of obstacles includes six surgeries and four players down, three of whom were All-ODAC and All-Region performers last season.
"We've had twice as many surgeries as we have losses," pointed out Elliott. "Significant players and human beings who you love and care about, so it's been tough to get through."
"Ten games into the season, we were just at practice one day and I rolled my ankle and tore a bunch of ligaments in my ankle," junior infielder Alison Pollack said.
Pollack is one of those standout players who would find herself on the sideline. Shortly after she suffered her injury, reigning ODAC Pitcher of the Year Emma Adams sustained a broken wrist. It was at that point Elliott decided to deliver a message to his team.
"The road doesn't change," he noted to his group. "The road just got a lot more narrow and so the room for error is not there like it was before and we've just got to stay together and stay on course and as long as we stay on the road, we're going to be fine."
The Marlins have done just that. Veterans are stepping up to shoulder some of the load carried by the injured stars. Young athletes, such as Tucker, have stepped up and played beyond their years. The injured players themselves are making contributions off the field while they heal and recover.
"Being that voice instead of being the action leader," Pollack said of her adjustment. "Being the voice leader is something that I've been trying to focus on."
"Even if they're not able to play, they're still helping us," said Tucker of her teammates. "Especially me being younger, they're just helping us navigate the things that they can."
Now the program is just two wins away from a return trip to the NCAA Division III Women's College World Series. Last year saw Virginia Wesleyan fall in its first two World Series games and this time around, the hope is to earn another national championship banner for the wall of the Marlins' home field.
"That would be absolutely amazing," smiled Tucker. "That's what we're all striving for. Since the beginning of the season, since the beginning of the school year, that's all we've talked about."
"You ask me what we want to do, we want to win a national championship," Elliott added. "That's what we talk about. We know that's not going to probably happen every year, but we're going to believe it's going to happen every year and that's why these kids come here. Pressure is a privilege, but so are expectations."
Virginia Wesleyan welcomes Gettysburg to TowneBank Park for the Super Regional this week for a best-of-three series. Game one is set for Thursday at 2:00 PM.
