SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Roger Williams University Softball team has been chosen to finish sixth in the Commonwealth Coast Conference, as announced in the CCC Preseason Poll.
The Roger Williams softball team looks to bounce back after a disappointing 2018 campaign that saw the team miss qualifying for the CCC Tournament for the first time since 2010. The Hawks are hungry to improve upon last year's finish and hope to come away with their first CCC Championship since 2013.
The team brings back the entire starting rotation and six starters in the lineup, including four All-CCC players in sophomore infielder
Katrina Goria (Wyckoff, N.J.), junior outfielder
Tara Chatowsky (North Kingstown, R.I.), junior catcher
Alexis Romano (Shirley, N.Y.), and senior catcher
Micaela Pohl (Middleboro, Mass.). Romano and Pohl led the Hawks last season in batting average at .386 and .381, respectively. Chatowsky was second on the team with 13 runs batted in while Goria was third on RWU with 15 runs scored.
Last year's Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Regular-Season Champion, Endicott, will start the 2019 season as the favorite to win the league based on the results of the 2019 CCC Preseason Coaches' Poll.
The Gulls emerged out of a crowded field in this year's poll to take the top spot as four different teams received first place votes. The reigning Regular-Season Champions earned 75 points and received four of the nine possible first place votes. The Golden Bears, the defending CCC Tournament Champions, earned the second spot in this year's poll with 72 points and three first place votes.
Salve Regina will try to return to championship form after being denied a three-peat last year. The Seahawks garnered 58 points in the poll and a first place vote to rank third. They went 11-7 in conference (17-21 overall) play last year and were the No. 4 seed in the tournament.
The final first place vote went to the University of New England, which totaled 57 points in the voting. The Nor'easters had a 10-8 CCC (17-20 overall) season last year and were the No. 5 seed in the tournament, but were eliminated in the play-in game by No. 7 seed Nichols.
The Bison made an impressive trip through the 2018 CCC Tournament as the No. 7 seed. They eventually reached the final four before being eliminated by the second seeded Lions. Nichols went 6-11-1 in the CCC (16-19-1) overall last year and lands in the fifth spot in this year's poll with 40 points.
Roger Williams (33 points), Gordon (31), Curry (29), and Wentworth (10) closed out the poll in that order.
Wentworth gets the CCC Softball schedule started with its early spring break trip to Myrtle Beach, S.C. beginning on Sunday, March 3. Gordon and Wentworth will kick the conference schedule off with a doubleheader on Friday, March 22 with the first full weekend of conference play coming a week later. Due to a change in the conference bylaws regarding the number of teams that qualify for conference tournaments, the top seven teams will qualify for this year's championship. The Tournament, which follows a double-elimination format, will begin on Thursday, May 2 and run through Saturday, May 4 with an "if necessary" game scheduled for Sunday, May 5. The CCC Tournament Champion will earn the conference's automatic qualifier in to the 2019 NCAA Division III Softball Championship.
2019 CCC Softball Preseason Coaches' Poll
| |
Team |
Points (First Place Votes) |
| 1. |
Endicott |
75 (4) |
| 2. |
Western New England |
72 (3) |
| 3. |
Salve Regina |
58 (1) |
| 4. |
University of New England |
57 (1) |
| 5. |
Nichols |
40 |
| 6. |
Roger Williams |
33 |
| 7. |
Gordon |
31 |
| 8. |
Curry |
29 |
| 9. |
Wentworth |
10 |
- Release courtesy of the Commonwealth Coast Conference
