Trojan softball tabbed 6th in poll
By MOC Sports Information
Published in Sports on January 24, 2012 1:48 PM
Mount Olive College is picked sixth in the 2012 Conference Carolinas preseason softball poll, as voted on by the conference softball coaches.
MOC garnered 52 points in the preseason poll, seven points behind fifth-place Coker. Defending conference tournament champion Erskine received nine first-place votes and topped the preseason poll. Last year's regular-season champion, Limestone, received the remaining two first-place votes and finished second.
Lees-McRae was third, followed by Queens in fourth.
The Trojans finished in a four-way tie for third place in last year's regular season conference standings. They return five starting position players, including 2011 All-Southeast Region and two-time all-Conference Carolinas first-team catcher Robbin Kennedy. Kennedy, who batted .337 last year and led the Trojans with eight home runs and 40 RBI, has also seen time at first base and center field.
Second baseman Katie Moore ended last year with a 13-game hitting streak and batted .444 during that stretch. She had a pair of three-hit games and a pair of three-RBI games as she raised her season batting average more than 100 points.
The Trojans also return their entire starting outfield from 2011 -- left fielder Katie Devenuto, center fielder Anna Munizza and right fielder Danielle Mitchell.
Mount Olive posted a 23-27 overall record last year and a 10-8 conference mark. The Trojans have finished above .500 in conference play in each of the last five years -- the softball program's longest such streak since the conference reclassified to NCAA Division II in 1995-96.
The Trojans' season opener is Feb. 5 at home against Kutztown (Pa.) University. First pitch in the doubleheader is 1 p.m. at Nancy Chapman Cassell Field.