James Wood softball reached newfound heights in 2026.
The 21-4 Colonels won the Region 4D championship and later reached the Class 4 state tournament semifinals for the first time ever following three quarterfinal appearances. After guiding his players through this history-making season, head coach Patrick Gibson is The Winchester Star Softball Coach of the Year for the third time in four seasons.
James Wood entered the region tournament as the North No. 2 seed and defeated Orange County 6-3 in the quarterfinals and top-seeded Sherando 8-6 in the semifinals to qualify for the state tournament. The team then defeated Jefferson Forest 6-2 to win the region title.
In the state quarterfinals, the Colonels took down Woodgrove 15-8 before falling to Gloucester in the semifinals 6-2.
The Colonels entered the state semifinal game on a seven-game winning streak. They finished 12-3 against Northwestern District rivals, including 4-3 against Sherando, Millbrook and Handley. After going 0-2 against the Warriors in the regular season, James Wood ended their season in the region semifinals.
Gibson, who was also named the Region 4D Coach of the Year, saw several of his players earn notable recognition this season.
Both senior shortstop Brynnen Williams and freshman third baseman Taylor Fishel were selected to the Class 4 All-State, All-Region 4D and All-Northwestern District First Team. Additionally, junior pitcher Sophia Gerald was named to the All-Region and All-District First Team, senior outfielder Kayleigh Harden and junior second baseman Kati Brannon were named to the All-Region Second Team and All-District First Team and junior first baseman Molly Maynard was named to the All-district Second Team.
Following this impressive season, Gibson spoke about what allowed the Colonels to consistently win:
Q. What qualities made this team special?
Gibson: Well, the first thing is we hit one through nine. We executed our game plans game-to-game. We would play small ball, and our lineup just flowed really well. We had kids that would set the table at the top and get on base, and then we had a lot of power hitters in the middle driving in those runs, and then we got on base one through nine. Our offense just flowed really well, the team gelled really well together and just overall executed the game plans.
[I’ll remember] how gritty they were, and how hard they worked in practice. They came every day and put the work in to be able to accomplish all these goals, and we had these goals and we met them.
Q. What individuals impressed you or surprised you the most?
Gibson: Brynnen had another monster year. She had 50 total hits this year, she broke the [school] record in total hits, average and runs scored, so obviously her at the top of the order sets the table. I could go through all nine hitters, really. Aubrey [Nail] did a really good job of doing a lot of sacrifice bunts. She broke the [school] record for that, I think she had 16 sacrifice bunts, but she’d also get on base with the bunt and hit pretty well, too.
Taylor Fishel was a freshman. [Our success was] not possible without her in the lineup. She batted in the three hole all year. Never slumped. The numbers she put up were amazing as a freshman. She just was consistent driving in runs in that three hole. Then you have Kati and Kayleigh behind her that protected her, and that’s important, as you kind of saw in the Gloucester game without Kati there. They pitched around Taylor a little bit, and our lineup didn’t flow the same.
Kati had a good year with her torn labrum, she put up really good numbers. She probably could have been even better if she didn’t get hurt. Kayleigh had a ton of big hits in those big games against Sherando and Woodgrove; she was an RBI machine there. Just all the way down to the lineup, we just got on base and just put pressure on the defense.
And the six freshmen, too … all six played a major role in this team. In that last game, we started four of them, and Maggie [Maynard] played half the game as well, pitching, and got two at-bats. So we had five freshmen playing in the state semifinal.
Q. What do you consider the most memorable moments of the season?
Gibson: Obviously, the state quarterfinal win against Woodgrove at home, that probably has to be the biggest win in James Wood softball history. So, just beating them at home in a state game, they’re a powerhouse. They’ve won seven state titles, and in years past, they’ve been our nemesis and knocked us out. We always kind of felt like if we could get past them, we had a shot. And this year, we finally did it at home. And then you can’t forget, winning the region title is also another big win at home against Jefferson Forest. So that one, and then beating Sherando after losing to them twice, and then getting them the third time. Sherando was a really good team, and they presented a lot of challenges for us to get past them.
— Compiled by Joe Tuman