THOMASVILLE, N.C. -- The Conference Carolinas head softball coaches have voted Mount Olive College as their preseason poll favorite for the 2008 season. Mount Olive is coming off its best season in school history, setting a school record for victories in a season (39) and capturing a share of the regular-season conference title for the first time in a decade. Leading Mount Olive is '07 conference player of the year Jenny Jackson, who was among the conference and national stats leaders in both pitching and hitting. On the mound, her 0.87 earned run average was the seventh-lowest in the nation. At the plate, her .442 batting average and .769 slugging percentage ranked nationally in the top 30. Including Jackson, Mount Olive returns seven starters. She is joined by two-time All-Conference selection Bailey Harrell and 2007 All-Conference catcher Kensie Cobb. Coker College returned to the top of conference standings in '07 as they were Co-Regular Season Champions with Mount Olive and Tournament Champions. The Cobras are returning All-Conference first team performers in first baseman Allie Bragg and outfielder Jessica Blackwell, along with All-Conference second team, All-Region, and league Tournament MVP pitcher Shelly Catlett. Coker completed the '07 season with a record of 38-12 overall, while going 16-4 in conference play. Anderson University has high hopes for the upcoming season. The Lady Trojans were 25-16 overall and 14-6 in conference play last spring while hitting .308 and averaging 5.68 runs per game as a team. While almost half of this year's roster - eight players - are freshmen, head softball coach Tommy Hewitt is optimistic. "There's something we can always be doing and working on," he said. "I'm happy with our freshmen group. I think the team chemistry is the best we've had. We had a good fall. We're going to be young. We've got just two seniors - Kayla Thrasher and Melissa Carmichael." In '07, Thrasher, a two-year starter at shortstop, batted .320 with six homers and 30 RBI, while Carmichael recorded six assists in right field and batted .259. Rounding out the softball preseason poll 4-11 are: Pfeiffer, Limestone, Queens, Erskine, Belmont Abbey, Barton, Lees-McRae, and St. Andrews respectively. Conference Carolinas Pre-Season Softball Coaches Poll (First place votes in parenthesis) 1. Mount Olive College (5) 93 2. Coker College (4) 91 3. Anderson University (1) 72 4. Pfeiffer University (1) 70 5. Limestone College 66 6. Queens University of Charlotte 62 7. Erskine College 48 8. Belmont Abbey College 33 9. Barton College 30 10. Lees-McRae College 20 11. St. Andrews Presbyterian College 18
April 19, 2008
St. Andrews Eliminates Anderson
April 18, 2008
Ijames Homer Sinks Lady Trojans
April 17, 2008
Three Softball Players Named All-Conference
April 16, 2008
Softball Team Rallies Twice To Sweep SWU
April 14, 2008
Emmanuel Deals Softball Team Two Defeats
April 13, 2008
First-Place Coker Sweeps AU
April 9, 2008
Softball Team Splits With Belmont Abbey
April 8, 2008
Pfeiffer Sweeps Anderson In Softball
April 6, 2008
Softball Team Bounces Back With Sweep
April 4, 2008
Erskine Softball Team Sweeps Anderson
April 2, 2008
Softball Team Splits With Southern Wesleyan
March 28, 2008
Queens Cools Off Anderson
March 27, 2008
Anderson Blanks Lees-McRae Twice
March 16, 2008
Softball Team Sweeps Barton
March 12, 2008
Softball Team Splits With Limestone
March 10, 2008
Durham's Single Gives AU A Split
March 9, 2008
Softball Team Crushes Claflin
February 28, 2008
Softball Team Splits With Emmanuel
February 24, 2008
Softball Team Sweeps St. Andrews
February 20, 2008
Softball Team Pounds Claflin
February 17, 2008
Lady Trojans Sweep St. Augustine's College
February 10, 2008
Mars Hill Takes Two From Softball Team
February 8, 2008
Georgia Southwestern Takes Two From Softball Team
February 4, 2008
Lincoln Memorial Sweeps Anderson
February 1, 2008
Hewitt Wants More Big Plays In '08
January 23, 2008
Mount Olive First, Anderson Third In Softball Poll
November 27, 2007
Hitting Clinic Scheduled For Dec. 22