Former Maize star helps lead Friends softball to KCAC title, national berth
Behind a former Maize standout in the circle, the Friends softball team captured its first KCAC championship since 2016 and advanced to the NAIA national tournament this past week.
Riley Wertz, a 2021 Maize graduate, was named the KCAC Pitcher of the Year, after setting the program’s modern-era single-season record with 248 strikeouts with a career-high 22 wins and a 1.92 earned run average.
That was enough for the Falcons to finish the regular season with a 36-13 record, the most wins for the team since 2013, and earn a second straight bid to NAIA Opening Round. It was the fourth time Friends has reached the double-elimination national tournament under head coach Suzanne Unruh.
Friends came close to the ever-important first win in the national tournament, but lost a 5-4 game to Marian (Ind.) in its debut in Sioux Center, Iowa on Monday. After falling behind 5-2 in the third inning, Friends scrapped back runs in the fifth and seventh innings and even had the go-ahead runner on base in the seventh inning before recording the final out.
Behind yet another gem from Wertz, who pitched a complete game and allowed just one run, the Falcons kept their hopes alive with a 2-1 victory over Northwestern Ohio the following the day. After Tamara Lozoya scored on a wild pitch for the game’s opening run in the fourth, Angelina Mendoza scored the winning run on an error by Northwestern Ohio in the fifth.
But the Falcons’ season would come to an end later on Tuesday in a 5-1 loss to Baker. Wertz once again pitched a complete game and allowed just two earned runs, but was credited with the loss. Jayden Estabrook delivered the only RBI hit in the fifth inning, but that was all that the Falcons could muster.
Elena Montoya led the team in hitting at .420, while Priscilla Mora hit 16 home runs with 46 RBIs and a .354 batting average and Becca Dunn added 13 home runs and a team-high 60 RBIs while hitting .378.
This story was originally published May 15, 2025 at 6:01 AM.
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