CAC Softball Preseason Webcast
For the final month of the 2014 softball season, Salisbury and Christopher Newport played in a number of nail-biting, down to the wire playoff contests – sometimes against each other. Look for more of that in 2015.
The Captains started "playoff season" by winning a coin toss for the top seed in the CAC Tournament, then eventually won the CAC playoff title with an extra-inning two-run homer. That snapped a 17-year streak of CAC titles for the Sea Gulls.
A few weeks later, at Salisbury, the Gulls downed CNU in close games twice in the NCAA Super Regional to advance to the Division III World Series. Salisbury then went 1-1 in extra-inning games and won three one-run games on the way to a second-place finish in the national championship tournament.
So it's no surprise that the CAC coaches selected Salisbury, led by two-time Player of the Year and senior pitcher Rachel Johnson, and Christopher Newport to battle it out for the 2015 trophy in the group's preseason poll.
Salisbury was the unanimous choice for the top spot in the poll (49 points), in which coaches were not permitted to vote for their own teams, while CNU collected 43 points to finish second.
The battle for third place in the preseason poll was won by Frostburg State (34 points), which edged York College (30 points) and Mary Washington (27 points) for the honor. FSU outdueled YCP, 7-6, to advance to the semifinal round of the 2014 CAC playoffs.
Three programs that are growing also plan to battle for one of the five CAC playoff positions, including Wesley (18 points), Penn State Harrisburg (16 points) and Southern Virginia (7 points).
Four teams, including Christopher Newport, Mary Washington, Southern Virginia and Wesley, lead off the 2015 campaign with games on the weekend of Feb. 21-22.
The regular-season will culminate with the top five teams advancing to the home field of the regular-season champion April 16-18 for the CAC championship trophy.
2015 CAC Softball Pre-Season Coaches Poll
1. Salisbury (7 first-place votes) 49 points
2. Christopher Newport (1 first-place vote) 43 points
3. Frostburg State 34 points
4. York 30 points
5. Mary Washington 27 points
6. Wesley 18 points
7. Penn State Harrisburg 16 points
8. Southern Virginia 7 points