The metal bats are all racked neatly in a storage area.

Sort of.

The practice balls are back in the their buckets, waiting for the start of the fall season.

And while the season-ending loss to Humboldt State still stings a little, the Montana State Billings softball team can enjoy its return to national prominence.

The Yellowjackets set 18 single-season team records en route to the Great Northwest Athletic Conference championship - the athletic program's first GNAC title in any sport - and a return to the NCAA Division II national tournament.

The records included most wins in a season (39), nine hitting records hitting records, six pitching records and two new fielding marks along with stolen bases.

Freshman pitcher Kasie Conder set the single-season record for saves (four) while earning GNAC Freshman of the Year honors.

Among the tsunami of numbers, Terina Stacks finished with six career records, while Stephanie Gosselin walked away with two and Leslie Davis one.

Stacks, who originally came to the Yellowjackets as a pitcher, leaves as one of the top hitters in the program. She set career records for at-bats (192), hits (212), runs scored (118), triples (5) and total bases (315). Gosselin returns to Canada as MSUB's all-time leader for home runs (25) and RBIs (111). She was also second to Stacks for hits while Stacks is second for RBIs.

And while the numbers are nice, it's not what defines the team, according to head coach Tony Stone.

"I think for the most part, you can look at our season and say it was successful," he said. "We accomplished some things. The first GNAC title for the school and first conference title for the program, setting records in home runs and stolen bases, along with leading the conference in batting average and ERA.

"But I think we'd trade a few of those to make it farther into the postseason. That's what our team is all about. Not stats and records, rather it's about the postseason … let's get there on an annual basis and let's see how far we can go. We got a taste of it this year and I think when we return in the fall, we are going to be of the mindset to get back and make the most of it."

• • •

Alira Carpenter needed only two seasons to leave her mark on GNAC play.

The senior guard from Lewistown set seven GNAC record this past season, including five game records.

Carpenter set single-season GNAC records for points scored (601) and highest scoring average (22.3), along with career records for 3-pointers per game (2.98) and scoring average (21.2). In conference games, Carpenter now holds the record for 3-pointers made per game (2.94) and scoring average (20.59). She also made a single-game record of 16 free throws (out of 17) against the University of Mary.

Teammate Shantell Marquis currently holds GNAC records for career steal average for all games (3.32) and for conference games (3.47) and highest single-season GNAC steals record for league games (3.56).

Marquis, a point guard from Cascade, will be a senior this coming season.

Rebecca Kielpinski of Alaska Anchorage closed out her All-America career with nine GNAC records. Kielpinski, of Mandan, N.D., holds league records for games started (126), field goals made (658), rebounds (1,181), points (1,752), double-doubles (48) and minutes played (3,751). She set conference game records for free throw attempts (373), rebounds (686) and minutes played (2,158).

There were a total of 63 records set or tied during the GNAC women's basketball season.