Rising senior softball standout for Gilbert, Ayden Leaphart, has made her collegiate commitment announcement July 3 on Twitter.

Leaphart announced that she will be continuing her career at Southern Wesleyan University in Central, South Carolina. 

“I am excited and very blessed to announce that I have decided to further my athletic and academic career at Southern Wesleyan University!” Her post reads, “I want to thank my Carolina Mojo coaches, Gilbert High School coaches and Coach Jerrin for giving me their time to help me get better. I also wanna thank my parents for supporting me and providing their time for softball and for taking me to practices and tournaments! Lastly, I wanna thank God because without him, none of this is possible! Thank you to everyone else who has helped me on this journey also! Excited to start this new chapter in 2024! Go Warriors.”

Leaphart played shortstop for Gilbert last year and hit an impressive .469 with an on-base percentage of .600 and an on-base plus slugging of 1.294. Along with earning Chronicle All-County honors, Leaphart was named to the Region V-3A All-Region and 3A All-State teams.

Leaphart helped lead Gilbert to a 15-9 overall record and a perfect 10-0 region record to claim the Region V-3A title in 2023.