SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Roger Williams University Softball team has been selected fifth in the Commonwealth Coast Conference Preseason Poll, as it was announced today.
Roger Williams looks to make its mark and claim the program's first CCC Championship since 2013. RWU finished the 2019 campaign 19-22 overall while earning the No. 5 seed for the CCC Tournament. In the playoffs, RWU won its opening round matchup against Salve Regina but were bounced from the tournament after losses to Endicott and Gordon. This season, the team looks to push farther in the tournament.
The team welcomes nine newcomers to the 2020 team while returning 11 players from last season's roster. The Hawks bring back two pitchers from the starting rotation as well as four players from the starting lineup. Included among those starters are junior outfielder
Sydney Provencal (Cumberland, R.I.), a 2019 All-CCC Second Team selection.
Defending Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Tournament Champion Endicott was selected to protect its title in the 2020 CCC Softball Preseason Coaches' Poll earning 78 points in the voting. The Gulls also received six of a possible nine first place votes on the ballots cast by the nine CCC softball head coaches last week.
Landing in the No. 2 spot in the poll is Salve Regina, which earned 69 points and two first place votes. Western New England ended up in the No. 3 spot in the poll with 62 points and the final first place vote, while 2019 CCC Tournament runner-up University of New England fell into the fourth spot with 48 points. Roger Williams rounded out the top five with 42 points in this year's voting.
Gordon (38 points) was picked sixth in the polling with Nichols (36 points) following close behind. Wentworth and Curry closed out the poll with 20 and 12 points, respectively.
The CCC softball season begins on Friday, March 4 with Roger Williams starting its spring trip with a doubleheader in Clermont, Fla. Teams will head back home later in the month to begin the conference schedule on the weekend of March 27. At the end of the regular season, the top seven teams in the conference standings will qualify of the 2020 CCC Softball Championship Tournament, which will begin on Thursday, April 30. The double-elimination tournament will be conducted over the weekend with the trophy being handed out on either Saturday, May 2 or Sunday, May 3 if the "if necessary" game is required.
2020 CCC Softball Preseason Coaches' Poll
|
Team |
Points (First Place Votes) |
| 1. |
Endicott |
78 (6) |
| 2. |
Salve Regina |
69 (2) |
| 3. |
Western New England |
62 (1) |
| 4. |
University of New England |
48 |
| 5. |
Roger Williams |
42 |
| 6. |
Gordon |
38 |
| 7. |
Nichols |
36 |
| 8. |
Wentworth |
20 |
| 9. |
Curry |
12 |
- Release courtesy of the Commonwealth Coast Conference
