SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – Three members of the Union College softball team – junior
Sam Rose and sophomores
Carra Cleaves and
Kyla Springer – were recognized for their excellence on the field and in the classroom by earning spots on the 2026 Academic All-District Softball Team, selected by College Sports Communicators and announced on Tuesday.
To be nominated for College Sports Communicators Academic All-District honors, student-athletes must participate in at least 90 percent or start at least 66 percent of their team's games (with pitchers needing either 17 appearances or 35.0 innings pitched), maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.50 or higher, and reach sophomore athletic and academic standing at the school. All Academic All-District honorees are considered for advancement to the CSC Academic All-America ballot.
Rose is recognized for the second straight season, while Cleaves and Springer both receive their first CSC Academic All-District honor.
Cleaves was named to the All-Liberty League second team as a sophomore after another successful season in the circle for the Garnet Chargers, posting a 9-10 record with a 3.34 earned run average and 127 strikeouts in 128.0 innings of work over 22 appearances (19 starts). She finished the year as the Liberty League leader in strikeouts, strikeouts looking and complete games, while also ending second in wins, shutouts and innings pitched, in addition to ranking third on Union's single-season strikeouts list. The biomedical engineering major also ranked second on the team in batting average as well, hitting .314 with 12 doubles, 18 runs batted in and 17 runs scored in 86 at-bats. She started the year by earning Liberty League Pitcher of the Week honors after a dominant 14-strikeout shutout over Centenary on March 7, the most punchouts in a game by a Union hurler since 2014, and also had an impressive one-run, eight-strikeout win over eventual conference champion #25 Rochester in late April.
Rose started 31 of her 32 appearances for Union as a junior, including 30 starting assignments at shortstop. She hit .245 in her third season as a starter, leading the team with five stolen bases while adding 10 runs batted in and 18 runs scored over 102 at-bats. She had a season-high three hits on two occasions during the month of March, while also driving in a season-high four runs and scoring twice in a March matchup against North Central (Minn.). The environmental engineering major ranked fourth on the team with seven multi-hit games in 2026.
Springer played in 34 games with 32 starts as a sophomore, splitting time between first base and designated player. She ranked third on the team in batting average at .298 and scored a team-leading 20 runs to go with nine doubles, a team-best three triples and 16 runs batted in, while also finishing as one of three conference players among the top-50 in chances with a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage. The biomedical engineering major started the year with Liberty League Performer of the Week honors after hitting .533 over the season's first four games as part of a season-opening seven-game hitting streak, which was the second-longest by a Union player in 2026.
With the three softball honorees this year, Union student-athletes have now earned 311 Academic All-District honors since 2001.
