The record-breaking Wilmington University softball team was named the 2024 Delaware Team of the Year by the Delaware Sportswriters and Broadcasters Association (DSBA).

The 2024 squad set a program record with 46 wins, going 46-16 overall. They won the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Regular Season, the CACC Tournament Championship, the NCAA Division II East Region I Tournament, and the Division II East Super Regional Series — all for the second year in a row — and advanced to their second straight Division II Softball Championships.

The Wildcats became the first Wilmington program to win a game at an NCAA finals site, defeating Augustana, 5-2, and finishing the World Series with a 1-2 record. They finished ranked No. 5 in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Poll.

Head Coach Mike Shehorn, a Delaware native, led the program to back-to-back Division II World Series appearances with a home-grown team, featuring 12 Delaware student-athletes on the 2024 roster.

“Being that I’m a Delaware guy, born and raised in Kent County and now being up here coaching,” says Shehorn, “this is something that I never even expected. I’ve just seen so many great teams at different levels get that honor.”

This is the first Wilmington University team and the sixth college squad to win the DSBA award since its introduction in 1999. The Wildcats join the 2005 Wesley College NCAA Division III football semifinalists and four University of Delaware teams: the 2003 NCAA Division I-AA champion football team, the 2007 NCAA Tournament Final Four men’s lacrosse team, the 2011 CAA champion men’s soccer team, and the 2016 NCAA title-winning field hockey squad.

The Wildcats were honored during the DSBA’s annual awards luncheon on Presidents Day, Feb. 17, at Riverfront Events on the Wilmington Riverfront.  

— Bob Yearick