KUNTO, Poland – Western Michigan softball senior pitcher Kailey O'Connor and the Ireland U-22 women's softball team recently completed play at the U-22 Women's Softball European Championship in Poland from August 5 through August 10. At the European Championship, O'Connor performed exceptionally and led Ireland in seven offensive categories and five pitching categories. 

In the circle, O'Connor paced Ireland with 20 strikeouts (a career-high at the European Championship), three appearances (three starts), one win, one complete game, and 15 innings pitched. On August 6, against the Netherlands, O'Connor notched her first-ever complete game at the European Championship behind eight strikeouts (also a career-high).  Later on August 9, O'Connor showed out in Ireland's six-inning 7-0 win over Austria. In the victory, she limited opposing batters to a .077 batting average behind six strikeouts and allowed one hit in four innings of work.

During the U-22 European Championship, the Bronco was one of 17 pitchers who pitched at least 15 innings. Amongst the pitching pool, O'Connor tied for first in walks allowed (4) and was ranked seventh in strikeouts (20). 

Offensively, O'Connor was on a tear and led Ireland in runs scored, hits, home runs, total bases, batting average, slugging percentage, and on-base plus slugging percentage. During the European Championship, O'Connor was one of 37 players with at least 20 at-bats. Of the pool of 37 individuals, she tied for the eighth most home runs with two and tied for the ninth-highest batting average at .450. The Bronco would also rank inside the top 15 in on-base plus slugging percentage and on-base percentage. Her 1.276 on-base plus slugging percentage ranked 13th, and her .476 on-base percentage ranked 14th in the pool. O'Connor rounded out her impressive offensive display with nine hits – tied for the 17th most hits in the group. 

Overall, in 20 at-bats through six games at the European Championship, O'Connor tallied nine hits, one double, three RBI, two home runs, and scored five runs. The incoming senior set a new career high in home runs and tied her career-high in runs scored at the championship. The Bronco saw the bulk of her runs in Ireland's 7-0 win over Austria, as she reached home plate three times behind three hits – both of which were game highs. In the win, O'Connor also led all players with two RBI. 

For all things WMU softball, make sure to follow the team on Instagram, @wmusoftball_, X, @WMUSoftball, and Facebook, @wmubroncosoftball.