Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe to our sports newsletter here.

Madison Knight didn’t want Kendall Gaunt to hear her next words. Not because they were harsh, but because reflecting on Gaunt would return the tears Knight shed after the final out of Syracuse’s season.

It was a fitting setting, answering questions outside Skytop Softball Stadium for the last time in Knight’s collegiate career after SU’s loss to Virginia Tech on Sunday. Behind Knight stood Mackenzie Knight, her younger sister and Gaunt’s roommate. With Knight taking both under her wing, Gaunt’s mom, Jessi Lawrence, jokes the three might as well be related. Knight shooed her away Sunday. Gaunt didn’t budge.

“She’s crying already,” Gaunt joked from the side. Classic little sister behavior. But Knight began anyway.

“She has no idea how much potential she has,” Knight said. “I think me and her connected so well because we are so similar in ways. I see myself so much in her.”

It’s hard to ignore the parallels. Both have younger sisters, grew up in South Atlantic states and arrived at Syracuse as their class’ top recruit. Gaunt, however, struggled to adapt early into her freshman campaign. Two weeks into the season, she lost her starting shortstop spot. By the end of February, Gaunt accumulated a team-leading seven errors and had a .120 batting average entering Atlantic Coast Conference play.

Though at the end of the season, Gaunt emerged as SU’s go-to cleanup hitter, anchoring the lineup behind Knight, Jadyn Burney and Vanessa Flores. Aided by advice from Knight, Gaunt finished the campaign with five home runs and seven doubles, which ranked second on the Orange.

She found a place in the outfield, finishing ACC play with a perfect fielding percentage. Through it all, Knight was there to help Gaunt.

“She was like the older sister I never had,” Gaunt said. “I got to be the little sister I never got to be.”

Gaunt joined Syracuse to make an immediate impact. SU had its best start in program history in 2025, and she wanted to be part of its rebuild. She trained as a shortstop throughout the fall and earned a starting spot.

Kendall Gaunt eyes Virginia Tech’s pitcher in SU’s loss on May 1. Gaunt finished her freshman season hitting .244 with five home runs, the Orange’s second-most. Keenan Sawada | Contributing Photographer

It seemed Gaunt would succeed entering February. But within two weeks, she made six errors, including two in one inning against then-No. 2 Texas on Feb. 14. SU head coach Shannon Doepking turned to Erika Zamora at shortstop, and Gaunt’s name began sparsely appearing in the lineup.

“Earning a starting spot over the fall and being so worried about losing it, you’re not necessarily playing to your highest potential,” Lawrence said. “There’s always that little girl inside of you, too, that is here (playing Division I softball).”

In the 11 games from facing Texas until the ACC opener, Gaunt started four times, all at second base. Before conference play began, she hit 3-for-25.

Knight empathized with Gaunt’s struggles, relating it to her freshman slump. Despite starting 2023 with seven hits, Knight went 4-for-35 in an 18-game stretch where her batting average dropped from .333 to .196.

“She gets so mad at herself when she gets out her first at-bat,” Knight said. “She’s so hard on herself, and she has such high expectations for herself. I understand everything she goes through because I was in that exact same position.”

Ask anyone who knew Gaunt growing up. They’ll tell you she never sat back. She watches, improves and anticipates her next move. Gaunt switched from baseball to softball at 9 years old and immediately told Lawrence she’d play in college. In high school, she traveled 90 minutes twice a week for her club team, Lady Lightning Gold Softball. Gaunt plans to the point where she has a dry humor about her effort.

John Corn, the president of LLG, coached Gaunt for two years. He had a defensive strategy called “80/20” — if a pitch is thrown correctly, the infield should know where the ball’s going 80% of the time. Gaunt, ever prepared, stretched the philosophy to its limits.

“She made so many plays as a second baseman, playing on the shortstop side of second base,” Corn said. “And when she would do it, she’d just run in and go ‘80/20.’”

At Syracuse this season, Knight and Gaunt stayed after practice to work on swing mechanics at the batting cages. She helped Gaunt delay her swing on the pitching machine just enough so Gaunt could hit through the middle instead of pulling the ball.

By SU’s second ACC game, Gaunt had her chance. Down 13-0 in the fifth inning against Florida State, Gaunt got the nod to pinch hit for Zamora.

Gaunt yearned for this moment. FSU was one of her dream schools. She watched Seminoles pitcher Makenna Reid as a high schooler and studied the senior’s film before the game.

The pitches rose as they approached the plate. They were dead center, like the machines she and Knight trained on. Gaunt fouled the first pitch off before smoking the second over the left field wall. Lawrence, attempting to film the slam, dropped her phone in excitement.

“I was waiting the whole game to get an at-bat,” Gaunt said. “I felt good with my timing, so that pitch, I just released.”

Gaunt doesn’t like labeling turning points, but there’s no denying her performance improved from there. She swatted four more home runs, eventually becoming SU’s primary cleanup hitter, while her .315 conference batting average led the Orange at the end of the season thanks to relentless preparation.

Around a week before SU took on Virginia Tech for its final series, Knight approached Gaunt in the cages. Gaunt, as usual, was zoned in. Knight didn’t have any technical advice, though. Instead, she waxed poetic about her time in college.

Knight asked Gaunt how long she would get locked up in the outcomes of every at-bat, how long she’d overthink before each swing. Because within four years, as it is for Knight, it’ll be over. Gaunt had no answer.

With Knight gone, SU looks to Gaunt next. She’ll have to come up with one now.

Published on May 7, 2026 at 11:58 pm
Contact Peter: peterhradosh@gmail.com | @PeterRadosh