We continue with Fox 40's Top 40 Most Impactful Local Sports Figures of All Time, sponsored by UHS Sports Medicine and UHS Orthopedics.

Coming in at number 29 is...Bridget Orchard, formerly known as Bridget Baxter. 

Orchard was a three-time all-state athlete for Binghamton High School's softball team where she both pitched and played second base for the Patriots. She then earned a spot at Villanova where she never looked back. Orchard is eighth all-time in the program for hits, number one in sacrifices and has the second-longest games played streak at 205. After her days as a player, Orchard made a name for herself as a coach. First at Cabrini College, a Division Three school, she led the Cavaliers to their first-ever winning record in her first year in charge. Orchard won four straight regular-season titles at Cabrini and made the NCAA Division III Tournament twice. Orchard then took over at Fordham University, winning an Atlantic 10 regular season title in 2005 just three years after taking over. Orchard would end up winning five regular-season championships and seven Tournament Titles with the Rams including a stretch of six-straight A10 Championships before heading back to her Alma Mater.

In 2019, Bridget took over as head coach at Villanova and two years later won the Big East title, returning the Wildcats to the NCAA Tournament. Baxter would do it again in 2022 and just this past season, won both the regular-season and postseason Big East titles. Orchard has been as dominant as anybody at any level since beginning her coaching career and has embraced her Section IV roots when recruiting. 

For being one of the best Section IV athletes of the era then climbing up her program's leaderboard as a Villanova Wildcat, dominating as a coach at Division III and even moreso at Division I, reaching the NCAA Tournament 13 times in 27 seasons, Bridget Orchard, formerly Bridget Baxter comes in at number 29 on Fox 40's Top 40.

Be sure to tune in every weeknight at 6 and 10 pm as we feature one sports figure per night!

FOX 40'S TOP 40 IS SPONSORED BY UHS SPORTS MEDICINE AND UHS ORTHOPEDICS. Photo courtesy of Villanova Athletics.