Gina Carbonatto always saw opportunity and promise in the Santa Clara University softball program, even during the 15 years she spent playing and coaching against the Broncos before accepting the head coach job in 2019.
 
"I thought it was kind of a gold mine," said Carbonatto. "I thought we could win here. You see it in women's soccer. A women's soccer program can win year-in, year-out with a great coach, and so I know women's sports can win here at Santa Clara. I knew there was a great shot to get better."
 
And they did.
 
From single-digit wins to West Coast Conference champions, the record-setting 2025 Santa Clara softball team has blazed a trail to history this season, culminating in the program's first appearance in the NCAA Tournament, at the Tucson Regional starting Friday.
 
But it was a process.
 
BUILDING A FOUNDATION
Right-handed pitcher Hannah Edwards graduated from nearby Archbishop Mitty High School in 2019, only 10 minutes down the road from Santa Clara. She had already decided to continue her softball career and education at SCU — and then there was a coaching change.
 
As luck would have it, Edwards already knew Carbonatto from their time with the Great Britain U22 team — Edwards as a player, Carbonatto as an assistant coach. So, she decided to stay.
 
"At that point there was just a mosh pot of personalities and different goals in mind and why they came," said Edwards about the state of the program upon her and Carbonatto's arrival. "And where our team has come with Gina is very collective – We're making postseason, we're going to do the most we can, we're all under Gina's goals now.
 
"Before, it was very much like there was some of us who were coming to build the program, there were some that were just trying to finish their career, there were so many things that happened. When Gina came it was more like, 'We're going to get to do this, and you're gonna figure it out. We're gonna win.'"
 
What evolved from Edwards' decision to stay is a unique player-coach relationship. Edwards has been at Santa Clara as long as Carbonatto has — both arriving in the summer of 2019, both enduring the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic, both helping to build a team culture with full buy-in.
 
And they watched together as the program grew, year by year, until the line-out to Cairah Curran on Saturday at Oregon State clinched a WCC championship and the first NCAA Tournament berth in program history.
 
"I've supported the culture of, 'I'm a senior, but I'll pick that up.' It's not about hierarchy," said Edwards. "We always say thank you to our catchers. It's always about, 'Thank you for sacrificing something for me, because I get to sacrifice something for the team.'"
 
Edwards has made the most of her decision to stay at Santa Clara, earning an all-WCC first team recognition, two all-WCC second team awards and landing on the WCC All-Academic first team twice, along with an honorable mention nod in 2023. She ranks third in program history with 40 career victories and fifth with 225 strikeouts.
 
THE CLIMB
Santa Clara's improvement wasn't sudden, but it was steady. The pandemic delayed Carbonatto's early progress, stalling momentum in each of her first two seasons.
 
"I think COVID really set us back because that first year, those seniors we had, were excellent," said Carbonatto. "Those seniors were the ones who had three head coaches. And they stayed and they loved Santa Clara, and they didn't get to see their senior year come to fruition like it was set up to. And so I actually think that hindered us because we could've been better right away."
 
Santa Clara won eight games in both 2020 and 2021. In 2022, the Broncos took a leap, winning 21 games and finishing only one game under .500 in WCC play. In 2023, they increased their win total again to 23.
 
"We missed out on a couple years of recruiting because we recruited via video," said Carbonatto. "Which I think we got really lucky again because Santa Clara attracts good people that are committed to school and softball, but it was hard to recruit."
 
The program finally turned the corner in 2024 — reaching 30 wins for just the third time in school history and staying in the hunt for the WCC's NCAA automatic bid until the season's penultimate day.
 
And in 2025: a school-record 32 wins, the program's first-ever WCC championship, and a trip to the NCAA Tournament.
 
"I've been with Gina for all of the wins. I've shared every win we've had, every 100-plus games that she's won, or (becoming) the winningest coach, like, all of those things I've seen her be able to accomplish," said Edwards.
 
THE NEAR MISS
Santa Clara entered the final weekend of 2024 poised to earn its first NCAA trip. After winning the series opener against San Diego to stay in contention, the Broncos were swept in a doubleheader the following day — and the dream was dashed for another year.
 
"No one forgot last year. It was one game, and it was in the back of our minds a lot," said senior utility player Abigail Charpentier. "We're not going to let this happen again. We're going to make a statement. It was our motivating factor."
 
"We were so close last year," Carbonatto said. "It was in our control … we had let that slip away in day two. Until you're there, it's hard to know, and hard to win when it matters."
 
The lessons of that near miss helped fuel Santa Clara's 2025 breakthrough. The Broncos won every WCC series this season — including a defining series win at Oregon State to secure the league title.
 
"We're the only team this year to win every series," Carbonatto said. "Weekend in, weekend out — yeah, we might have lost one game. It's hard to win three games against an opponent."
 
THE CULMINATION
The final out — a line drive snagged by Curran — set off a celebration six years in the making.
 
"It felt like I was running into a circle of like, 'Wait, what happened?'" said Edwards. "It was very much like, 'I can't believe we actually did it.' Everything we were angry about from the last season and all the success and the injuries all just kind of dissipated. It still feels surreal that we're leaving to go play in Tucson."
 
"I just was really happy for everyone," said Carbonatto. "For our seniors last year who were so close, for our parents, for our staff, for the Bronco family."
 
For the first time in program history, Santa Clara is in the NCAA Tournament — heading to the Tucson Regional with a school-record 32 wins, a WCC championship, and a culture built from the ground up.
 
And the Broncos don't intend to go quietly.
 
"People know about us," said Edwards, "but now they're gonna know about us."

Connect with the Broncos on Social Media
Athletics: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | Snapchat
Softball: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram