Roanoke Picked to Win Fourth Straight Softball Title Hornets Rank Third

SALEM, Va. --- Sometimes they get it right… sometimes they don’t. Predicting what happens before a season starts is a tough duty for anyone, let alone those closest to the teams. But for the last three years, the annual survey of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference’s (ODAC) softball coaches has been proven true by year’s end.

Roanoke College, winners of the past three ODAC softball championship tournaments, looks to ensure the coaches’ predictions for a fourth straight year as it was picked atop the 2007 ODAC Softball Preseason Poll. The Maroons were tabbed with 84 total votes including five first place nods as they open the season looking for their eighth overall league crown. Bridgewater College was voted second, chipping at Roanoke’s heels with 82 overall tallies with three top marks. Lynchburg College rounded out the top three with 74 votes, and Eastern Mennonite University garnered a fourth spot with 59 votes and the remaining first place ballot.

In last year’s conference tournament, Roanoke made it through the bracket in three games, besting Lynchburg 4-3 thanks to a go-ahead RBI single in the top of the ninth by tournament Most Outstanding Player, Ashley Pierce.

The Maroons welcome back all three of their 2006 All-ODAC first team selections in infielder Loren Messick, pitcher Lyndsi Craig, and shortstop Tamara Poles. Messick kept the offense on the move, batting .377 with 30 runs batted in and 15 sacrifice hits. Craig led the league in victories with a 19-3 record to go with a 1.64 earn run average. She struck out 132 batters in 123.2 innings pitched, and boasted a .175 opponents’ batting percentage. Poles hit .369 with four homers, 10 stolen bases, and 20 free passes.

Bridgewater returns 2006 Rookie of the Year, Kaitlyn Bowman, as well as fellow All-ODAC first teamers, third baseman Lindsay Ware and catcher Laura Barry. Bowman, an outfielder, batted .521 (73-for-140) with 11 dingers, 66 RBI and a lofty .864 slugging percentage. Ware was second on the squad with a .458 batting average, but led the team in doubles with 17. Barry batted at a .415 clip with 11 doubles.

Lynchburg returns two of its three All-ODAC first team selections in catcher Kirstin Swank and 2006 Player of the Year, Caroline Cubbage. Swank batted .353 with seven homers, just as many doubles, and a solid .706 slugging percentage. Cubbage, who batted at a .489 clip, showed off excellent power numbers evidenced by a 1.000 slugging percentage. She hammered 17 dingers, 16 doubles, and 57 runs batted in. She also stole nine bases in 10 attempts.

1. Roanoke 84 (5)
2. Bridgewater 82 (3)
3. Lynchburg 74
4. Eastern Mennonite 59 (1)
5. Virginia Wesleyan 55
6. Emory & Henry 47
7. Randolph-Macon 36
8. Guilford 26
9. Sweet Briar 22
10. R-M Woman’s 10