The Ida B. Wells High School softball season just swung off with an opening game on March 18. The softball program has experienced a few major changes since last year. Coming into the 2025 season, there are more players, more teams and new talent. Head Coach Krissy Govertsen says, “There are many girls this year, especially freshman, who are really putting in the work to get better and play harder.”
Last year was the first time in a long time that the softball program had more than one team. In fact, IBW is currently the only program in the whole Portland Interscholastic League (PIL) that has three different levels. “We’ve almost quadrupled in two years and doubled in one,” says Govertsen. During the 2024 season, IBW softball had two different teams, and now during the 2025 season, they have three teams on each level. There is a varsity team that is coached by Govertsen herself, a junior varsity team coached by Danny Bradach, an IBW counselor and a junior varsity two team coached by Britney Small, a vice principal secretary at IBW.
Tryouts for this year had many surprises. There were a staggering 45 girls who showed up. Almost double the amount of last year and quadruple the amount from two years ago.
There are a couple of stand-out players going into the season. One of the most notable is a junior, Sam Stevens, awarded Guardians pitcher. The Guardians Pitcher is someone who is able to put in the effort and be a team player. She is a hard-working athlete who regularly weight lifts during zero period and practices even when nobody’s watching.
A rarity that is not seen too often is a freshman making varsity. So what a shock it is to find out that not one, but two freshmen are on the varsity roster this year. These two talented underclassmen are Ava McMahon, a talented pitcher, and Jillian Warberg, a standout catcher.
“Tryouts were really scary,” says McMahon. “It was like kind of intimidating at first with all the older kids, but they were all so welcoming and nice in the end.” Both of these players had left everyone shocked with their mix of capabilities and sportsmanship at tryouts.
The 2025 IBW softball team is off to a banging start. With our gifted players like Stevens, McMahon and Warberg, everyone will be waiting to see how the season progresses with our new class of athletes. Using the combined increase of players and the enthusiasm from coaches, this season is definitely going to be one for the records.
