PITMAN, NJ - Defending NJAC champion and 2018 NCAA national championship tournament participant Rowan University has been voted as the preseason conference favorite for 2019, based on a vote of the league's coaches. The Profs garnered eight of the 10 possible first-place votes. The College of New Jersey picked up the remaining two first-place votes and are predicted to finish second in the league standings.
Ramapo College, Kean University, and Stockton University round out the top five in the preseason vote, and are followed by Montclair State University, Rutgers-Camden, Rutgers-Newark, William Paterson University, and New Jersey City University. Rutgers-Camden was also voted as this year's dark horse team to watch.
NJAC softball is once again expected to be strong across the board after placing three teams in the NCAA tournament last year and one more in the ECAC tournament. In addition to Rowan's automatic bid, TCNJ and Ramapo also earned at-large berths into the NCAA tournament last season, and Rutgers-Newark secured an ECAC bid.
Rowan enters the 2019 season ranked No. 5 in the nation in the Schutt Sports/NFCA Preseason Poll, and TCNJ clocks in at No. 18. Both squads posted 30+ win seasons last year, with the Profs going 39-13-1 and the Lions had a 31-10 record. Six more teams had at least 20 wins, and eight of the 10 conference teams posted winning records in 2018.
Additionally, a total of seven NJAC players were named to the Schutt Sports/NFCA National Player of the Year Watch List, including Rowan's
Carly Anderson and
Jesse DeDomenico, Ramapo's Jackie Howarth, Stockton's Megan Murzello, TCNJ's Alanna Namit, Montclair State's Kaylee Powers and Kean's Olivia Zengel.
All three conference major award winners from last season are back, including Anderson (2018 Player of the Year), Namit (2018 Pitcher of the Year), and TCNJ's Lauren Conroy (2018 Rookie of the Year).
Just three players on last year's all-conference first team were seniors; meaning, NJAC softball returns 12 first team players and a total of 23 all-conference honorees from last year. With so much experience returning across the board, plus new infusion of rookie talent into the conference, there is an unmatched level of anticipation and excitement throughout the 10 softball programs in the conference.
TCNJ is the first conference team to open the 2019 season as the Lions kick off play on Saturday, Feb. 16, followed by Rowan and Kean the following weekend. The remainder of the conference teams begin 2019 play during the first full week of March.
NJAC Softball Preseason Coaches Poll
(first-place votes in parenthesis)
1. Rowan University (8)
2. The College of New Jersey (2)
3. Ramapo College
4. Kean University
5. Stockton University
6. Montclair State University
7. Rutgers-Camden (dark horse)
8. Rutgers-Newark
9. William Paterson University
10. New Jersey City University
