Virginia Wesleyan Second, Bridgewater and EMU Share Third

SALEM, Va. --- Lynchburg College earned 97 total points and seven of the 10 first place votes as the Hornets were selected atop the 2009 ODAC Softball Preseason Poll in the annual survey of the league's coaches.  Virginia Wesleyan College, last year's conference runner-up to LC, sits second with 81 points and one top tally.  Bridgewater College and Eastern Mennonite University share the third position with 74 points, although the Royals did receive one first place vote.

Lynchburg (29-8 overall, 16-2 in the ODAC in 2008) won its fifth ODAC title in 2008 and made its first trip to the NCAA Division III Championship Finals in Salem, Virginia.  The Hornets will be without former ODAC Player of the Year, Elizabeth Perkins, but head coach Dawn Simmons has plenty of talent remaining in the dugout.  Sophomore Katie Bruce leads the list of returnees following her selection as ODAC Rookie of the Year and an All-ODAC First Team accolade last season.  A double threat, Bruce went 20-5 from the circle with a 1.70 earned run average.  In 169 innings of work, she fanned 90 batters while only giving up 41 earned runs.  As a batter, Bruce hit .342 with five homeruns and 32 runs batted in.  Tara Campbell (.361, 8, 31) is back at first base for another season, and All-ODAC Second Teamer, Brittany Allsop (.382, 7 doubles, 13 steals), spearheads the Hornets' outfield contingent.

Virginia Wesleyan (29-12, 14-4) looks for a return to the ODAC title game under head coach Brandon Elliott.  Pitching should again be a strength for the Marlins as they welcome back ODAC Pitcher of the Year, Brittaney Brown.  The Chesapeake-native went 20-9 with a 1.49 ERA while whiffing 168 batters in 178.2 innings pitched.  She started and completed all five tournament games for VWC last season, picking up three wins including a pair of shutouts.  Betty Stewart and Kristy White provide VWC with a pair of solid experienced bats.  Stewart, the Marlins' catcher, hit .355 with a homer and 25 runs batted in.  She also helped guide the VWC pitchers to a 1.82 ERA, tops in the conference.  White hit .305 with three triples, one homerun and 23 RBI.  The Marlins' second baseman was second the squad with 10 stolen bases as well as 18 walks.

Bridgewater (25-15, 11-7) returns a pair of All-ODAC First Team stars in Caity Butler and Kaitlyn Bowman.   Butler posted a .370 batting average with 10 doubles, eight homers and 42 runs batted in.  Bowman equaled Butler's eight round-trippers while also recording eight doubles, 34 RBI and a team-best .403 batting average.  Lindsay Lam, Ashley Gills and Becky Schmidt form a trifecta of solid pitchers at head coach Donnie Fulk's disposal.

Eastern Mennonite (30-13, 13-5) returns all three of its second team choices for head coach J.D. McCurdy's sixth season in Harrisonburg.  Jamie Fraysher finished fourth in the conference with a 1.54 earned run average while posting a 9-5 record.  Nicole Shelton hit .374 with a team-best 14 doubles, good enough for second in the ODAC.  She also made only two errors in 266 chances at third base (.992 fielding percentage).  Mandee Madden batted .352 with eight doubles and 13 stolen bases.

Listed below is the entire 2009 ODAC Softball Preseason Poll.  For more information, visit the ODAC on the Internet at www.odaconline.com.

2009 ODAC Softball Preseason Poll
(#) Denotes first place votes