Posted: Feb 14, 2012
Benedictine
was tabbed to win the 2012 Northern Athletics Conference Softball
Championship, which would be its second straight, according to the
preseason coaches' poll.
The
Eagles received 10 of the 13 first-place votes and 166 total poll
points for the top spot, ahead of Aurora's 156 points and two
first-place votes.
Concordia
Wisconsin received the remaining first-place vote and 145 points
for third, followed by Dominican, Concordia Chicago and Lakeland to
round out the top half. The complete poll results are listed
below.
Benedictine's
title last season halted Aurora's streak of four-straight
championships, and the Eagles (37-8, 22-2 NAC) completed the season
with the NAC Tournament title and a trip to the NCAA Championship
Tournament.
The
Eagles led the league in both batting and pitching with bests of a
.375 batting average and a 1.85 ERA. The defending champs also had
the highest fielding percentage at .960 and stole 189
bases.
Benedictine
returns a solid core of players led by two-time NAC Pitcher of the
Year Brittany Adcox. The senior right-hander led the conference
with a 1.59 ERA, 166 strikeouts and a 24-8 record last season, and
is also a threat in the batter's box as she hit .371 with 35 RBIs
and three home runs.
The
2012 NAC Tournament takes place May 3-5 at Alverno Field in
Milwaukee, with the tournament winner earning the conference's
automatic bid to the 2012 NCAA III Championship Tournament. The top
six teams in the standings qualify for the conference
tournament.
2012
Northern Athletics Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll
1. Benedictine (10), 166
2. Aurora (2), 156
3. Concordia Wisconsin (1), 145
4. Dominican, 124
5. Concordia Chicago, 109
6. Lakeland, 105
7. Marian, 88
8. Edgewood, 80
9. Wisconsin Lutheran, 61
10. Alverno, 55
11. Rockford, 46
12. MSOE, 33
13. Maranatha, 15
first-place
votes in parentheses
voted by the conference's 13 head coaches
13-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 point scale used