Softball Selected Ninth in NFCA Preseason Poll

LOUISVILLE, KY.- The National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) released its preseason coaches poll on Tuesday afternoon and the defending Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) and Atlantic Region Champion West Chester (34-16) was tabbed ninth in the preseason rankings.

UT Tyler, who was a mainstay in the Top-10 a season ago, was picked as the Preseason No. 1 with eight first-place votes followed by 2019 National Champion Augustana in second with five votes, Biola in third with three and reigning National Champion West Texas A&M in fourth with North Georgia rounding the out the top-five.

West Chester, the only PSAC team to appear in the Preseason Top-25, enters the 2022 campaign following another stellar 2021 season, which saw the team pick up right where it had left off in years prior. In 2021, West Chester celebrated its second PSAC Conference Championship since the 2017 season, along with its third NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional Championship in a row to make another trip back to the Division II Softball National Finals. In addition to the team accomplishments of the 2021 season, the Golden Rams also celebrated four PSAC All-Conference honorees and saw senior Bri Garber (Willow Street, Pa./Lampeter-Strasburg) set the PSAC Career Hits record while Mary Picozzi (Collegeville, Pa./Lansdale Catholic) became the first true freshman to start and win the PSAC Conference Championship game since Kristin Erb accomplished the feat for Lock Haven in 2006.

West Chester returns five starters from its 2021 Regional Championship squad along with a pair of All-Conference performers in Grace Aguilar (Frederica, Del./Lake Forest) and Madison Melvin (Tabernacle, N.J./Seneca), who was also named to the NFCA All-Atlantic Region team.

Offensively, Aguilar and Melvin will be key contributors for West Chester this season, building off 2021 campaigns, which saw them bat .333 and .438 (team-high on the year), respectively. Aguilar finished the season third on the team in runs scored with 44 trailing only Garber and Melvin who tied for the team lead in runs (52), and hits (70) during an abbreviated 2021 campaign.

In the circle, Picozzi saw the most action of the trio in 2021, pitching to a record of 13-7 on the year, including the clinching win in the PSAC Championship, with an ERA of 4.21 with six complete games and two shutouts on the year. In total, Picozzi registered 109.2 innings pitched during her rookie season, striking out 48 while holding opponents to a batting average against of .266, which was the lowest on the staff.

West Chester is slated to open its season on February 5^th at Francis Merion before visiting Barton on February 6^th to conclude its opening weekend of play. A full preview of the 2022 Golden Rams season will be available on wcupagoldenrams.com early next week.

Rank	School	Points	2021 Final Record	2021 Final Ranking
1	UT Tyler (8)	386	33-7	17
2	Augustana (5)	371	49-8	3
3	Biola (3)	365	26-16	2
4	West Texas A&M	360	43-12	1
5	North Georgia	348	43-8	4
6	Grand Valley State	318	45-10	5
7	Valdosta State	310	38-11	6
8	Saint Anselm	266	33-7	7
9	West Chester	248	34-16	8
10	Concordia Irvine	240	34-13	12
11	Minnesota State	230	40-10	13
12	Indianapolis	223	46-8	11
13	Lincoln Memorial	218	38-8	10
14	Auburn Montgomery	196	40-7	21
15	Oklahoma Christian	192	38-9	14
16	Southern Arkansas	139	29-10	18
17	West Florida	136	33-16	15
18	Angelo State	131	33-14	RV
19	Georgian Court	130	38-6	19
20	Central Oklahoma	77	36-14	22
21	Colorado Mesa	75	39-5	23
22	Texas A&M-Commerce	58	33-18	9
23	UAH	44	32-14	25
24	West Liberty	28	37-17	RV
25	Central Missouri	22	38-14	RV

 
Receiving Votes: Western Washington (20), Anderson (19), Texas A&M-Kingsville (15), Tampa (12), Rollins (7), Northwest Nazarene (6), Rogers State (6), Kutztown, (3), Adelphi (1).
The 2022 NFCA Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll is voted on by 16 NCAA Division II head coaches with two representing each of the NCAA's eight regions.