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2017 Northeast Conference Softball Preseason Coaches Poll             1. LIU Brooklyn (6)             2. Saint Francis U (1)             3. Robert Morris (2)             4. Bryant                 Central Connecticut             6. Fairleigh Dickinson             7. Sacred Heart               8. Wagner             9. Mount St. Mary's             First place votes in parentheses

 
   
Somerset, NJ -- After reclaiming the NEC softball title a year ago, league coaches have voted LIU Brooklyn to repeat as conference champion in the annual preseason poll.

The Blackbirds received six first-place votes while Saint Francis U was picked second and earned one first place nod. Robert Morris, the 2016 NEC runner-up, was chosen third and collected a pair of first place votes. Bryant and Central Connecticut tied for fourth in the poll. The coaches selected Fairleigh Dickinson sixth, Sacred Heart seventh, Wagner eighth and Mount St. Mary’s in the ninth spot. Last season LIU Brooklyn, Robert Morris, Saint Francis U and Bryant qualified for the four-team NEC Tournament.

LIU Brooklyn captured the NEC regular season title for the 11th time last year and went on to win the program's 14th NEC Tournament crown, but first since the 2012 season. The Blackbirds, who beat Robert Morris 3-2 in a decisive game seven, have won eight more NEC Tournaments than any other conference school.

LIU returns the core of its team under 22nd year head coach Roy Kortmann, a seven-time NEC Coach of the Year and a two-time member of the NEC Coaching Staff of the Year.  Most notably, the battery consisting of 2016 NEC Pitcher of the Year Erynn Sobieski (Logan Township, NJ/GCIT) and 2016 NEC Golden Glove winning catcher Victoria Zamora (Orange, CA/El Modena) are back in the fold. Sobieski, who was also the 2016 NEC Tournament MVP after posting two wins and a save in the tourney, finished last year with a league-leading 1.25 ERA against league rivals, and posted an NEC-high 19 wins and 150 strikeouts. Zamora led the NEC with a .471 on-base percentage, ranked sixth with a .342 average and gunned down 45 percent of would-be base stealers. Both were tabbed to the All-NEC first team. Senior Kylie Mulholland (Sewell, NJ/Washington Twp.) was a first team All-NEC pick at third base last season after hitting .304 with 12 doubles.

Saint Francis U set a school record with 34 wins a year ago and finished second in the regular season under sixth year head coach Jennifer Patrick-Swift. The NEC's top hitting team a year ago - SFU scored 150 more runs than any other team - the Red Flash bring back 2016 NEC Rookie of the Year Hayley Norton (Spring Grove, PA/Spring Grove) and a host of other big bats. Norton led the NEC with 16 doubles, and also ranked in the NEC top-five in RBIs (56, second), runs scored (47, third), hits (59, third), home runs (15, third), triples (3, third), walks (32, third), slugging percentage (.674, fourth) and on-base percentage (.441, fifth). She was one of four Red Flash named to the All-NEC first team, joining junior first baseman Madison Cabell (Ivor, VA/Southampton), redshirt senior hurler Ketarah DeVries (Forreston, IL/ Forreston) and junior shortstop Jordan Seneca (Plum, PA/Plum), all of whom return. Cabell hit .338 and ranked third in the NEC with 52 RBIs, while Seneca paced the conference with 62 RBIs and finished second with 18 dingers. DeVries posted a 13-5 mark and ranked fifth on the circuit with a 2.93 ERA.

Longtime NEC power Robert Morris has won four out of the last six NEC regular-season titles but is looking for its first NEC tournament title since 2005 undre 27th year head coach Craig Coleman. The Colonials return two All-NEC second teamers in sophomore pitcher Kaitlin Ellzy (Cadiz, OH/Harrison Central) and senior catcher Jordan Gurganus (Chesapeake, VA/Hickory). Ellzy ranked second in the league with 14 wins, and finished fourth in ERA (2.88) and third in opponent batting average (.224). Gurganus, a two-time All-NEC honoree, ranked fourth in the conference with a .346 average.

Outside of the three schools that received first place votes, both Bryant and Central Connecticut have seen some success in recent years. The Bulldogs won the NEC regular season and NEC Tournament title in 2014, while the Blue Devils claimed the NEC Tournament crown in 2013 and 2015.

One more player to keep an eye on is Mount St. Mary's senior slugger Rachel Heinze (Charlotte Hall, MD/St. Mary’s Ryken). The first team All-NEC utility player set a new conference single-season record last year with 19 homers and posted a league-leading .840 slugging percentage. She also hit .347 and finished with 40 RBIs and 44 runs scored.

The 2017 regular season begins on February 10 and conference action starts up on Saturday, April 1. The 2017 NEC Softball Championship will be held on May 11-13, hosted by the top seed.
 
About The Northeast Conference
Now in its 36th year, the Northeast Conference is an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic association consisting of 10 institutions of higher learning located throughout six states. Media coverage of the NEC extends to four of the largest markets in the United States - New York (#1), Pittsburgh (#23), Baltimore (#27), and Hartford/New Haven (#30).  Founded in 1981 as the basketball-only ECAC Metro Conference, the NEC has grown to sponsor 22 championship sports for men and women and now enjoys automatic access to 14 different NCAA Championships. NEC member institutions include Bryant, Central Connecticut, Fairleigh Dickinson, LIU Brooklyn, Mount St. Mary’s, Robert Morris, Sacred Heart, St. Francis Brooklyn, Saint Francis U and Wagner. For more information on the NEC, visit the league’s official website (www.northeastconference.org) and digital network (www.necfrontrow.com), or follow the league on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Google+, all @NECsports.