SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Irish freshman Ava Zachary was named to the NFCA Great Lakes 3rd Team All-Region, the organization announced Thursday. With Zachary’s selection, Notre Dame has had a player selected to the All-Region team each of the past five seasons.
Zachary was a dominant force for the Irish in her first collegiate season. The Mishawaka, Indiana native played in 51 games with 43 starts, leading the team in multiple offensive categories, including batting average (.406), on-base percentage (.474), slugging (.609), RBI (31) and doubles (13). Zachary also hit .440 in conference play and was named Second-Team All-ACC and Freshman All-ACC last week.
The Irish infielder had countless notable moments in her first season with the Blue and Gold, but probably none more than her two-run, opposite field walk-off homer in extra innings to win the series against Cal in late March.
“THE HOMETOWN HERO”@ava_zachary walks it off for the series win‼️#GoIrish | #ndsbSWAG pic.twitter.com/jQ1D4dJOMs
— Notre Dame Softball (@NDsoftball) March 29, 2026
Zachary also flashed the leather for Notre Dame, making extraordinary plays at both second and third base.
Routine play @ava_zachary
📺 ACCNX pic.twitter.com/kxoXkAyEJW
— Notre Dame Softball (@NDsoftball) April 28, 2026
Quite the play from 1️⃣2️⃣
📺 @accnetwork | @ava_zachary pic.twitter.com/qZldvlXDek
— Notre Dame Softball (@NDsoftball) April 4, 2026