HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College softball team has been picked to finish second in the Centennial Conference's Preseason Poll. The Fords received 46 voting points in the poll among conference coaches. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own teams.
Last spring, the Fords advanced to the Centennial Conference Tournament for the third straight season. The seniors on this year's team can become the first class in program history to make the Centennial Conference Tournament in each of its four years. In very tight voting near the top of the poll, Haverford is predicted to do just that.
Gettysburg is the unanimous pick among the coaches to claim the 2016 conference crown. The Bullets' eight first-place votes garnered 64 voting points. After Haverford's 46 points, Washington College and McDaniel tied for the third in the poll as each received 41 points. The second through fourth spots represent the last three conference champions with Washington College and Haverford winning in 2013 and 2014, respectively. McDaniel enters the season as the defending conference champions.
Haverford will be led by second year head coach Erin Brooks. In her first season, Brooks was named the Centennial Conference Coach of the Year. The Fords went 25-10-1 in 2015, including a runner-up finish in the regular season standings following a 12-4 conference record. Haverford went 1-2 at the conference tournament with both losses coming to preseason favorite Gettysburg.
Headlining the Fords' returnees is a trio of All-Centennial Conference performers from 2015. Kristin Tatum was one of a program-record four first-team all-conference performers for the Fords. Tatum enters her senior season behind the plate as one of two captains. Jessica Koshinski was named the program's first Centennial Conference Rookie of the Year at third base for Haverford in 2015.
In the circle, Sara Tauriello has been a three-time All-Centennial Conference pitcher for Haverford. Co-captain Emily Winesett also returns to the circle for the Fords in 2016. Winesett was a second-team All-Centennial Conference performer during the 2014 championship season.
Despite the returning talent, Haverford will have to deal with the loss of seven players from the program's all-time winningest class. Each of those players saw time in the starting lineup last season. That includes six players who started at least 30 of the team's 36 contests.
Softball opens its spring season with a week of competition in Clermont, Fla. over Spring Break. The Fords are scheduled to play 10 games in the Sunshine State. The 2016 season officially gets underway on Sunday, March 6 at 1 p.m. against Monmouth (Ill.).