CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW)- For the first time since opening in 2020, the University’s of Virginia’s Palmer Park will host the ACC softball tournament.
The Cavaliers finished sixth in the league this season, but the tourney site was predetermined. Virginia will play in prime time on Wednesday against Pittsburgh. The Hoos swept the Panthers during the regular reason, putting up 22 runs in the series in late March.
With a win, they would advance to Thursday’s quarterfinals against rival Virginia Tech. The Hokies caught UVA in the midst of its only long losing streak of the season, earning a series victory in Charlottesville.
Now, Virginia enters the tournament on a four-game win streak, including an emotional series sweep of the North Carolina State that featured a no-hitter by freshman right-hander Taylor Smith, and senior day festivities on Sunday that ended with a 7-4 UVA victory.
The five seniors honored that day, Kelsey Hackett, Courtney Layne, Kassidy Hudson, Eden Bigham, and Jade Hylton are part of the winningest class in program history. The squad eclipsed 30 wins each year those five Virginia natives played on it.
“It’s really special to five athletes from the Commonwealth, to see them grow in their leadership that’s authentic to them,” UVA coach Joanna Hardin told Cville Right Now. “They were the first class to commit to a vision of this [Palmer] Park before it was open…I think this class was really special for me.”
Shortstop Jade Hylton, who entered the record books as Virginia’s all-time and single-season home run queen last season, recently entered a post-graduate program to become a radiation therapist as she prepares for her final run at glory in the orange and blue.
“Knowing that Wednesday night, that everywhere there will be UVA fans and the community’s going to show up and we get to play for a championship at home, is such a blessing” Hylton told Cville Right Now. “It’s a bittersweet ending to my senior year.”
Hardin, who is completing her first decade at the helm of the Cavaliers, was quick to acknowledge the generosity, time, and effort of Fran and Lisa Palmer, whose gift helped build the stadium. Lisa, who pitched for UVA from 1986-89, and her mother, Fran, have acted as advocates for Virginia softball and the game in the community ever since Lisa set foot on Grounds. Virginia getting a chance to play for an ACC title on home soil was part of the vision for the stadium since its inception.
“I could see us playing for a championship here,” Hardin said. “The house that they [Lisa and Fran] have built here is on display across the entire country, I see commercials for the tournament and I just get goosebumps, what they’ve invested in this program and who they are to our athletes is such a gift.”
