INDIANAPOLIS – Expectations are high in Owensboro as spring rolls around with Kentucky Wesleyan selected at the top of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Softball Preseason Coaches Poll presented by Under Armour on Monday.
All 13 Great Midwest member institutions were ranked by the league’s coaches with the regular season quickly approaching. The first scheduled contest in the composite schedule is set for Feb. 3 before the conference calendar gets underway on March 23.
KWC was also projected to finish on the top of the South Division standings in the preseason baseball coaches poll that was released last week. The Panthers’ softball program snapped a four-year championship run by Trevecca with their first conference tourney title and the NCAA Championship Midwest Regional bid in 2017.
Kentucky Wesleyan finished with a 38-22 record and put together an 18-8 mark through the league schedule before getting a taste of national tournament competition against Missouri-St. Louis and Truman State.
KWC’s Great Midwest co-Coach of the Year Miles Mallette returns to the dugout with a loaded arsenal of six all-conference first team performers that were either freshman or sophomore classification last year, including rookie of the year Jaylin Tidwell.
The Panthers sported the league’s top team batting average (.328) and additionally paced the conference in categories like runs (311), hits (556), home runs (25) and RBI (283). KWC set the single-season G-MAC record in hits by one base knock (555 by Trevecca in 2016).
In the balloting, Kentucky Wesleyan received six first-places and 135 total points as the early favorite. The Panthers edged out Cedarville with the Yellow Jackets’ earning five first-place votes and 130 points.
Cedarville’s 21-4 record in the conference schedule secured the top seed in the six-team tournament bracket last spring. G-MAC Pitcher of the Year Danielle Wolgamot was brilliant for conference co-coach of the year Wes Rowe as the Yellow Jackets figure to be title contenders once again.
The Great Midwest’s depth is on display with first-year members Hillsdale and Ohio Dominican each receiving one first-place vote. ODU was the No. 4 seed in the GLIAC Championship bracket while Hillsdale was the No. 6 seed. Another postseason qualifier, Findlay, hosted the GLIAC tourney as the No. 8 seed and the Oilers start a new era in the Great Midwest tied for sixth with Davis & Elkins.
Trevecca will be aiming to re-capture its championship form with titles in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016; the Trojans are slotted in fifth to start the year.
Ursuline garnered 56 points to sit in eighth; the Arrows qualified for the G-MAC Championship last year along with D&E and Malone. The Pioneers of Malone were picked 10th and are followed by rival Walsh in 11th while Ohio Valley and Alderson Broaddus round out the preseason coaches poll, respectively.
The conference is working with each institution to provide a comprehensive season preview at a later date.
2018 Great Midwest Softball Preseason Coaches Poll presented by Under Armour
| School |
Points |
| 1. Kentucky Wesleyan (6 first-place votes) |
135 |
| 2. Cedarville (5 first-place votes) |
130 |
| 3. Ohio Dominican (1 first-place vote) |
115 |
| 4. Hillsdale (1 first-place vote) |
112 |
| 5. Trevecca |
107 |
| t6. Davis & Elkins |
84 |
| t6. Findlay |
84 |
| 8. Ursuline |
56 |
| 9. Lake Erie |
48 |
| 10. Malone |
47 |
| 11. Walsh |
45 |
| 12. Ohio Valley |
27 |
| 13. Alderson Broaddus |
24 |