Three-time defending champion Christopher Newport was selected as the unanimous favorite in the 2021 Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference (C2C) Softball Preseason Poll. In a vote among the conference head coaches, the Captains received five first-place votes and totaled 25 points to land atop the poll. 

Salisbury (21 points) received the last first-place votes to finish second in preseason balloting ahead of Mary Washington (17 points) who is slotted third after earning the top seed in the 2019 league tournament. 

Southern Virginia (10 points) claimed the No. 4 position ahead of Finlandia (9 points) in fifth and Mount Mary (8 points) in sixth to round out the poll. 

The C2C Championship will feature a new, six-team double-elimination bracket event hosted by Mount Mary University at Five Diamonds in Waukesha, Wisconsin. The three-day tournament will run May 6, 7 & 8 on multiple fields. 

2021 C2C Softball Preseason Poll

Below is a brief preview of each team entering the 2021 campaign: 

1) CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT Captains are ranked third in the nation in the 2021 pre-season poll from the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA)...Keith Parr's squad won its first dozen games a year ago and was 12-1 when the season was halted by CoVID-19...Christopher Newport has a veteran lineup including two big bats in the order, senior first baseman Patty Maye Ohanian and junior third baseman Kaitlyn Hasty, both All-Americans and conference MVP's in the past...four other seniors (outfielders Maddie Hool and Keely Crittenden, shortstop Natalie Carmichael, and catcher Emerald Cheesbrew) give the Captains a solid foundation...in the pitching circle, senior Emily Weatherholtz has great experience and will see plenty of innings...she'll be complemented by sophomore Gracie Vallejos and newcomer Jessie Kantor...the Captains open play at Virginia Wesleyan on Saturday and then host Randolph on Sunday.

2) Fifth-ranked SALISBURY enters the 2021 season on a 10-game winning streak after the shortened 2020 season. Senior infielder Kaleigh Edwards, who earned all-conference honors in 2019, returns to anchor the offense. Joining Edwards in the lineup is fellow returning all-conference selection Jillian Jones along with sophomores Maddison Lednum and Abby Mace, who helped Salisbury led the country in several offensive categories. The 2020 national wins leader Savannah Sheats and Lindsey Windsor will pace a sophomore-heavy pitching staff looking to build on a standout freshman campaign.

3) Veteran head coach Dee Conway welcomes back a talented squad for MARY WASHINGTON, led by senior catcher Rachel Porchie and junior infielders Maggie Mrowka and Caroline Bird. Sophomore Hadlea Valera returns to the pitching circle after a promising freshman year, and several newcomers will also vie for innings as well.

4) Head coach Tiffane Pendleton returns for her fourth season at the helm of the SOUTHERN VIRGINIA softball team as the squad looks forward to the 2021 campaign. The Knights return four starters in the field, including Danielle Asche, who earned VASID First Team All-State honors and finished the shortened season with a .444 batting average. Infielder Sophia Badell (11 RBIs), catcher Caitlin Barber (.462 OBP), and outfielder Emily McDaniel (4 stolen bases) return to the lineup as well. On the mound, Southern Virginia welcomes Krystal Kemp, who pitched 78.2 innings in 2019, back from a church mission, and add freshman Abigail Harris to the rotation.

5) Seven returning players will look to carry on the recent success that FINLANDIA has had (2 ACAA Championships in the last four years).  Leading the charge is Rheanna Bain (six runs, six RBI's, .378% BA in 14 games) and Harlie Caster (nine runs, eight RBI's, 16 stolen bases, .385% BA in 14 games).

6) MOUNT MARY (4-10 overall in 2020) will rely heavily on its 11 returning letterwinners from last year's pre-COVID slate, but in his fourth season at the helm, Head Coach Perry Clark has already witnessed great promise from six newcomers to this year's roster. Perhaps the most prominent questions surround the Blue Angel battery following the graduation of three impact players last May. The Blue Angels, also hosts of this year's C2C Tournament, will kick off their season by welcoming 16 teams from the upper Midwest to the Louisville Slugger Dome for the inaugural MMU Collegiate Slugger Series in Peoria, Ill.