WINTHROP, Mass. – Emmanuel College and Johnson & Wales University have been voted atop their respective divisions in the 2020 Great Northeast Athletic Conference Softball Preseason Poll, as voted upon by the league's 12 head coaches. The GNAC office issued the announcement on Wednesday. Saint Joseph's College is forecasted to place third in the North Division this spring.
Under the watch of Co-Head Coaches Jamie Smyth '92 and Dick Bailey last spring the Monks went 13-23 overall with an 8-8 record in conference play. As the #3 seed in the GNAC North Division, St. Joe's recorded a lengthy run in the GNAC Tournament, as the Monks defeated #4N Norwich, 9-4, in the first round of the conference tournament and topped #2N Suffolk, 6-4 in 11 innings before falling to #1N Emmanuel, 4-2. Saint Joseph's then knocked off reigning champion Johnson & Wales in a losers' bracket game, 3-2, before suffering a season-ending 5-3 loss at the hands of #1S Simmons on May 4th.
Saint Joseph's returns all but three starters from last year's squad, including four players who hit north of .300 last spring. Senior outfielder Madisyn Charest (Sidney, Maine) headlines the returning corps after hitting .368 (32-87) with 26 runs, four doubles, two triples and 16 RBI. Junior Megan Eagleston (Reading, Mass.) and seniors Maizie Lee (Saco, Maine) and Libby Pomerleau (Limerick, Maine) also enjoyed solid 2019 campaigns. Sophomores Ashley Emery (Madison, Maine) and Bailey Rassol (Rehoboth, Mass.) also showed promise and figure to build on solid first-year efforts.
Senior pitchers Kate Whitney (Jonesboro, Maine) and Caitlyn King (Old Town, Maine) both return and will head up a promising young staff that features three freshmen hurlers.
The 2020 season begins on Sunday, March 1st when the Monks play Eastern Nazarene at 2:45 PM in the first of 10 games in Claremont, Florida.
Emmanuel led the way with five first-place votes and 62 points in the North Division, while fellow Boston school Suffolk University also received five first-place nods for 60 points. Saint Joseph's College of Maine took the third spot in the North with the other two first-place votes and 57 points.
In the South Division, JWU had four of the 12 first-place votes for 61 points to set the pace, just ahead of Simmons University (59 points, three 1st-place votes) and defending GNAC champion University of Saint Joseph (55 pts, five 1sts).
The 2020 campaign will mark the second season the GNAC has shifted to divisional play. In conference play, teams compete in a doubleheader with all five in-division opponents and also play a doubleheader with three of the six non-divisional opponents for a 16-game league slate.
For the GNAC Tournament, scheduled to begin on Tuesday, April 28, teams will be seeded 1-4 by division with the #3 and #4 seeds playing a single-elimination contest for the two remaining spots in the six-team double-elimination portion of the tournament. The No. 1 seed from the North Division will host the Saturday-Sunday portion of the playoffs in 2020.
A year ago, it was Fenway foes Emmanuel (15-1) and Simmons (13-3) that topped the respective divisions in the regular season, while eventual champion USJ was the South Division No. 2 seed.
The Blue Jays went on through the 2019 GNAC Tournament undefeated at 4-0, topping JWU (3-2), Simmons (5-1), Emmanuel (5-3), and Simmons once again (3-0) to capture the GNAC automatic qualifier to the NCAA Division III Tournament. USJ leaned on Amaria Sharon, who threw four complete games for the Blue Jays en route to their first GNAC team title since 2000, before USJ fell to Tufts and WPI at the Medford, Mass. Regional.
In the North side of the poll, Rivier was fourth with 30 points, followed by Norwich University with 29 points and Anna Maria College with 14 points. In the South, Albertus Magnus College ranked fourth with 40 points, ahead of Regis College with 22 points and Lasell University with 15 points.
The 2020 season gets underway on March 1, with numerous GNAC teams traveling down south to Clermont, Fla. and Myrtle Beach, S.C. The first weekend of conference play will take place April 4-5 across the league.
2020 GNAC Softball Preseason Poll
NORTH:
1. Emmanuel (5) - 62
2. Suffolk (5) - 60
3. Saint Joseph's Maine (2) - 57
4. Rivier - 30
5. Norwich - 29
6. Anna Maria - 14
SOUTH:
1. JWU (4) - 61
2. Simmons (3) - 59
3. St. Joseph CT (5) - 55
4. Albertus - 40
5. Regis - 22
6. Lasell - 15
The Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) is an NCAA Division III association made up of 13 member institutions and over 3,000 student-athletes across the New England region. Founded in 1995, the GNAC annually sponsors and administers 22 championships, while balancing academic integrity, athletic opportunity and community involvement in an effort to enhance the student-athlete experience.
– #TheGNAC –
THANKS IN LARGE PART TO GNAC SPORTS INFORMATION OFFICE
