COTTON GETS 300TH CAREER STRIKEOUT, WHILE HEASTER HELPS SOFTBALL SPLIT WITH YORK

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Avila softball wrapped up the KCAC portion of its regular season on Tuesday afternoon, splitting with York. The Eagles lost to the Panthers in game one, 6-2, before coming back to win the second game, 3-1 thanks to dominating pitching from Faith Heaster.

In the first inning of the day, starting pitcher McKayla Cotton notched the 300^th strikeout of her illustrious Eagle career.

With strikeout No. 300, Cotton also got into a bit of trouble in the first inning, allowing two York runners to score on an RBI double with two outs.

York added a run in the third and Avila answered back with one of its own in the bottom half on an RBI single from Cotton.

Another run from the Panthers in the fourth and two more in the fifth put the Eagles in a hole.

Cotton picked up her second RBI of the day in the bottom of the seventh, but Avila was unable to overcome York's six-run output, falling in game one.

Game number two was played in a much quicker pace and went Avila's way.

Starting pitcher Faith Heaster played a big part in that, facing just three over the minimum. Heaster also notched four 1-2-3 innings in the contest, helping the Eagle offense get the production it needed.

With two outs and a runner in scoring position in the second inning, Marissa Espinoza brought Addison Hassett in to score the game's first run. Hassett came in to run for Stephanie Hayes after the senior worked an eight-pitch leadoff walk.

York tied the game in the fourth, but three Panther errors in the bottom half put Avila up for good.

Tied at 1-1 with two outs and runners on the corner in the bottom of the fourth, Elizabeth Harvey stole second. While Harvey was stealing second, York's catcher overthrew the pickoff attempt to third base, attempting to keep Hayes – who got on base from a Panther throwing error - on the bag. Hayes would trot home for Avila's second run.

On the same sequence, trying to keep Harvey at third, the York third baseman threw another wayward ball, which allowed Harvey to cross the plate and put Avila ahead for good, 3-1.

Heaster dominated York in the circle, allowing just one Panther baserunner into scoring position in the entire game. The one York run in the game was unearned, as Heaster tossed a complete game, zero-earned run performance to give Avila a victory in its final regular season game at The Z. 

The 2026 KCAC Softball Tournament will begin April 29 in Salina, Kan. Brackets will be announced later this week.  

 (photo credit: Shomari Finch)