Former shortstop Ashleigh Tavaska was not sure she wanted to play college softball. She stopped playing club softball in the middle of her high school sophomore year due to the physical and mental demands of being a high-level student-athlete.
Therefore, Tavaska said her college softball recruitment was not exactly high. But she changed her mind, and her high school coach at Jackson Liberty was able to help her land at New Jersey’s Division II Caldwell University.
There, Tavaska was a four-year starter and picked up several accolades in her time at the college, including the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Player of the Year and D2 Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) East Region Player of the Year awards this past season after leading the conference in home runs (10), RBI (59), slugging percentage (838) and OPS.
She also sported a 3.6 GPA, and helped pace the Cougars to a 24-24 overall record while going 13-9 in CACC action.
“I was a burnt-out athlete. I didn’t want to be a four-year athlete (at first),” said Tavaska, a former three-sport (cross country/basketball), four-year varsity student-athlete in high school. “But when I went to Caldwell, it felt like home. I am very happy that I went there.”
Additionally, Tavaska said that she exceeded her own individual expectations and relished in her impressive accomplishments in 2025.
“I feel very proud of myself,” she said. “I wasn’t expecting to have as good of season as I had. I came in with the mentality of just having fun, and I had one my best seasons.”
Overall, Tavaska racked across her four-year career as a Cougar softballer. She is fourth in Caldwell history in hits (259), fifth in longballs (22), eighth in batting average (.389), third in RBI (182), fifth in doubles (60), first in triples (16), sixth in runs (149), ninth in stolen bases (45), first in total bases (417), and fifth in slugging percentage (.627).
Tavaska said she owes a lot her success to several people and mentors at Caldwell including head softball coach Lindsay Mayer; associate athletic director and former head softball coach Dean Johnson; assistant athletic director and former assistant softball coach Christie Marrone; head athletic trainer Heather Arabitg; and director of athletic communications Jerry Milani.
An admitted stay-at-home type of person, Tavaska–who has gained acceptance to Rutgers University’s PHD physical therapy program–developed and thrived as person and athlete at Caldwell.
“I’m very grateful to have had the opportunity to play college softball, as well as the academics,” the Jackson, N.J, native said. “I had built in friends because of softball. I surprised myself because I have grown because I’m a homebody.”
But you can rest assure that Tavaska will be right at home wherever she lands in the future.
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Photos: Caldwell University Athletics.
NY NJ Sports World/Brooklyn Sports World 