VALDOSTA, Ga. – The Valdosta State softball team honored eight seniors on Sunday in conjunction with a special student-athlete graduation ceremony for athletes who will miss next week's on campus graduation due to postseason competition.  
 
Saturday's regular season finale was canceled due to inclement weather for the softball team so the eight seniors were honored both in the special graduation ceremony and for Senior Day on Sunday afternoon in the rotunda of West Hall.  
 
The 2026 senior class includes; Savannah Barfield, Carly Bogart, Rachael Lee, Saylor McNearney, Charlotte Phillips, Evie Pitts, Adriana Portanova and Jayme Prandine.  VSU athletics would like to wish each of these seniors the best in their future endeavors.  
 
Barfield, a Nashville, Ga., native, played a key role in the circle for the Blazers for four years.  She logged 199 innings of work in 73 appearances with 34 starts.  She fanned 108 for her career and academically has been a mainstay on the Gulf South Conference Academic Honor Roll and earned Easton/National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-America Scholar-Athlete honors last season.  This season, she has a 3.56 ERA in 78.2 innings, while fanning 48 for most on the team.  She has appeared in 21 games with 13 starts.  She graduated in December with a degree in middle grades education and will be starting her master's degree in the fall.  
 
Bogart has been a consistent presence in the Blazer lineup appearing in 44 games this season, registering 28 hits, scoring 18 runs, while driving in 13 with four doubles, one triple, three home runs and four stolen bases.   She transferred to VSU from Florida Tech and made an immediate impact last season playing in 49 games with 46 starts, scoring 27 runs with 48 hits and batted .308 for the season.  She earned GSC Academic Honor Roll accolades, along with College Sports Communicators Academic All-District honors.  The Inverness, Florida, native, is earning a master's degree in business in healthcare and is preparing for a future in medical device sales.  
 
This Cartersville, Ga., native came to VSU last season from Gulf Coast Community College and in 2025, Lee made an immediate impact for the red and black playing and starting in 51 games with 38 runs scored, 43 hits, six doubles, six home runs and drove in 23.  She earned CSC Academic All-District honors last spring.  This season, she has played in 45 games with 43 starts, while scoring 22 runs with 28 hits, ten doubles, four home runs and 24 RBI.  She earned VSU Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors and was named to the second VSU class of Chi Alpha Sigma earlier this week at the annual awards banquet.  She is majoring in interdisciplinary studies and plans on becoming a heath and physical education teacher.  
 
McNearney has been a main stay for the Blazers as she has started 166 games for her career.  She has 45 home runs placing her in the top ten all-time in program history for home runs, while she has scored 158 runs with 166 hits, 27 doubles, three triples and driven in 130 for her career.  She has earned GSC Academic Honor Roll accolades multiple times over her career.  This season, the Kennesaw, Ga., native, is third in the GSC in home runs with 12 for 39^thnationally to lead the team.  She is second on the team in average at a .331 clip on 51 of 154 from the dish.  She has started all 48 games and her 51 hits leads the team, while she has scored a team-high 42 runs.  She has nine doubles and one triple this season, while walking a team-high 28 times and leading the team in stolen bases on 17 of 19 thefts.  She is earning a degree in business management with a minor in entrepreneurship and aspires to one day owning a Tiki Bar in Kennesaw.  
 
This senior has been a steady force in the lineup for two seasons after transferring from Gulf Coast Community College.  Phillips played and started in 88 games as a Blazer and has 78 hits with 50 runs scored, 18 doubles, one triple, 12 home runs and 51 RBI.  She earned GSC Academic Honor Roll accolades last season this season.  This season, she has started 37 games and is hitting .310 for third on the team in average with 25 runs scored, 35 hits, nine doubles, one triple and five home runs.  Off the field she led the athletic department with a staggering 169 hours of community service for the year.  The Birmingham, Ala., native, is earning a degree in marketing and will begin her career as a second lieutenant in the United States Air Force at Barksdale Air Force Base in Bossier City, La.
 
This Branford, Fla., native has been a team player for the Blazers for four seasons and has played in 157 games with 37 starts for her career.  Pitts has collected 19 hits with 66 runs scored, four doubles, four home runs and nine RBI.  This season, she has played in 38 games with 24 starts, registering 16 hits, 17 runs scored, three doubles, four home runs and seven RBI.  She has earned multiple GSC academic honor roll accolades and is pursuing a degree in health science and plans on attending physical therapy school following graduation.  
 
Coming last season from Indian River Community College, Portanova has played in 63 games with 38 starts, while scoring 17 runs on 17 hits with one double, two triples and four RBI for her career.  This season, the Delray Beach, Fla., native, has played in 29 games with 18 starts, registering six hits with 10 runs scored, one triple and one RBI, while going 6 for 6 in stolen bases.  She is majoring in health sciences and plans on attending chiropractic school following graduation.  
 
This final senior has played four years for the Blazers logging 177 games with 149 starts.  She has tallied 101 hits with 83 runs scored, 21 doubles, two triples and 14 home runs, while walking 61 times.  She earned second team all-GSC honors in 2023 as a freshman with 40 hits, five doubles, seven home runs and 37 runs scored.  She has earned multiple GSC academic honor roll accolades and earned CSC academic all-district honors last season, while earning Easton/NFCA All-America scholar athlete honors last season.  The Bradenton, Fla., native, has played in 33 games this season with 32 starts, while logging 16 hits, 12 runs scored, six doubles, one triple, two home runs and 18 RBI.  Prandine is earning a degree in communication disorders and plans on pursuing a master's degree to become a speech-language pathologist.
 
The Blazers head to the Gulf South Conference Championship and will open the tournament facing No. 2-seed West Alabama on Wednesday, May 6, 2026, at 1:30 p.m. ET at Choccolocco Park in Oxford, Ala.