Courtesy of Brian Stanley, NFCA Director of Media Relations
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Wayne State softball head coach Gary Bryce, entering his 35th season in Midtown, took his Warrior softball team to its third College World Series in 2014 and appear at No. 5 in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division II Preseason Poll.
The Warriors topped Ashland, Grand Valley State and Indianapolis in the NCAA Regionals before notching a come-from-behind win in a best-of-three NCAA Super Regional series against Missouri-St. Louis to advance to Salem, Va. and the College World Series.
Coming off its first national championship, West Texas A&M (60-7) was the unanimous No. 1 selection. Coming off a historic campaign, which included an undefeated run through the NCAA Division II Softball Championships, the Lady Buffs received all 16 first place votes to earn the top spot in the poll. It is a position West Texas A&M held the majority of the 2014 season. National runner-up Valdosta State (48-15) is not far behind in the second spot with 381 points.
The Lady Buffs, under the direction of NFCA Division II National Coach of the Year Kevin Blaskowski, are also favorites in the Lone Star Conference, a spot ahead Angelo State, who starts the season ranked 11th. Preseason LSC Player and Pitcher of the Year, Renee Erwin and Rita Hokianga return to lead WT. Erwin batted .459 with 20 doubles, six triples, 18 home runs and 75 RBI. In addition, she scored 81 runs, slugged .902 and recorded a .574 on base percentage. Hokianga went 29-3 with 2.11 ERA, 283 strikeouts and eight shutouts, while holding batters to a .195 average in 212.1 innings of work.
Valdosta State was also picked as its league’s preseason favorites, topping the Gulf South preseason poll and looking to claim its seventh straight GSC crown. The Blazers finished just six points ahead of No. 12 Alabama Huntsville. Guided by 10th-year head coach Thomas Macera, VSU returns three-time Gulf South and 2014 South Region Player of the Year, Courtney Albritton. Albritton is coming off a season in which she generated an NCAA-best 27 home runs to go along with 83 runs scored and 200 total bases, all GSC single season records. In addition, she batted .437, slugged .939 and only struck out five times in 249 plate appearances.
Last year’s NCAA semifinalists Dixie State (51-10) and Southeastern Oklahoma State (45-20) came in at No. 3 and No. 4, respectively, while another championship participant Wayne State/Mich. (46-12) rounded out the top five.
The next three squads, West Chester (42-22), LIU Post (50-11) and Armstrong Atlantic (36-15) also competed in last year’s DII Softball National Championships. Rounding out the top 10 are super regional participants, North Georgia (47-11) and Cal State Monterey Bay (48-12).
In all, 17 conferences were represented, eight of which had two programs each; California Collegiate (Cal State Monterey Bay, Humboldt State), Great Lakes Valley (Indianapolis, Missouri St. Louis), Gulf South (Alabama Huntsville, Valdosta State), Lone Star (West Texas, Angelo State), Northern Sun (Winona State, Augustana (S.D.)) Pac West (Dixie State, California Baptist), Peach Belt (Armstrong Atlantic, North Georgia) and the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (West Chester, California (Pa.).
The NFCA Division II Top 25 Poll is voted on by 16 NCAA Division II head coaches with two representing each of the eight NCAA regions. Final 2014 records and rankings are shown, first-place votes are in parentheses.
NFCA Division II Preseason Softball Poll – January 28, 2015
|
Rank |
Team |
2014 Record |
Totals |
Final 2014 Poll |
|
1 |
West Texas A&M (16) |
60-7 |
400 |
1 |
|
2 |
Valdosta State |
48-15 |
381 |
2 |
|
3 |
Dixie State |
51-10 |
367 |
3 |
|
4 |
Southeastern Okla. St. |
45-20 |
351 |
4 |
|
5 |
Wayne State (Mich.) |
46-12 |
311 |
7 |
|
6 |
West Chester |
42-22 |
293 |
6 |
|
7 |
LIU Post |
50-11 |
278 |
8 |
|
8 |
Armstrong Atlantic |
36-15 |
273 |
5 |
|
9 |
North Georgia |
47-11 |
240 |
10 |
|
10 |
Cal State Monterey Bay |
48-12 |
238 |
11 |
|
11 |
Angelo State |
41-16 |
226 |
16 |
|
12 |
Alabama-Huntsville |
48-12 |
225 |
12 |
|
13 |
Missouri-St. Louis |
49-8 |
203 |
13 |
|
14 |
Augustana (S.D.) |
46-15 |
200 |
15 |
|
15 |
Caldwell |
45-9 |
171 |
14 |
|
16 |
St. Mary's (Texas) |
50-14 |
169 |
9 |
|
17 |
Tampa |
33-8 |
133 |
18 |
|
18 |
Emporia State |
49-14 |
111 |
20 |
|
19 |
Humboldt State |
46-16 |
110 |
RV |
|
20 |
West Virginia Wesleyan |
46-15 |
102 |
17 |
|
21 |
Indianapolis |
44-13 |
88 |
21 |
|
22 |
Winona State |
48-9 |
58 |
24 |
|
23 |
California Baptist |
46-13 |
56 |
19 |
|
24 |
California (Pa.) |
37-7 |
41 |
23 |
|
25 |
Wingate |
38-20 |
32 |
RV |
Dropped Out of Final 2014 Poll: No. 22 Anderson (43-12), No. 25 Rollins (39-13).
Others Receiving Votes: Rollins (30), Southern New Hampshire (23), Texas Woman’s (23), Truman State (17), Shorter (15), Anderson (12), Central Oklahoma (6), New Haven (6), Palm Beach Atlantic (5), USC Aiken (3), Missouri Western (2), Lenoir Rhyne (1).