Bridgewater, NJ — According to the league’s head coaches, there will be a new top dawg — or fish — in the NEC softball circuit in 2026.
 
Coming painstakingly close to raising the program’s unprecedented 16th NEC Tournament championship banner in the rafters in 2025, last season’s regular season titlist is expected to seal the deal in 2026 after LIU hauled in five-of-nine first-place tallies in the annual NEC Softball Preseason Coaches Poll. 
 
Two more perennial contenders followed suit in the preseason predictions. 
 
Central Connecticut, which has qualified for the postseason in each of the past three seasons, was picked second and FDU, which has made two NEC Tournament appearances in the past four years, was selected third. Each squad split the four remaining first-place votes in the poll.
 
With its eyes set on making the cut for postseason play for the first time since 2008, Wagner was slotted fourth in the preseason poll, while Le Moyne and two-time defending NEC Tournament champ Saint Francis are projected to finish fifth and sixth, respectively. Rounding out the poll was Stonehill in seventh, Mercyhurst in eighth and NEC newcomer New Haven in ninth.
 
Four former NEC all-stars — including a pair of first teamers and two second team selections — will look to guide the Sharks back to waters that are not so uncharted for the most storied program in NEC Softball annals. 
 
Nabbing All-NEC First Team distinction as an outfielder last season, junior Lily Hinkle (La Crescenta, CA/Crescenta Valley), a crafty Southpaw, is the league’s top returning hitter after she topped the charts in conference play with 29 runs while posting a .439 batting average and 1.297 OPS. With junior Kaylee Clarkson (Newbury Park, CA/Westlake), a First Team utility player who scattered her name throughout the NEC’s top 10 in a plethora of categories, and Second Team outfielder Alyssa Garcia (Hacienda Heights, CA/Bishop Amat Memorial) inking their names back on the Sharks’ lineup card, last year’s top offensive squad is primed to do some damage at the plate once again in 2026. 
 
Central Connecticut was one win away from slugging its way to the NEC title game for the second time in three years in 2025. The Blue Devils have been known to pack a potent punch in the batter’s box, and this season should be no different. The bats of veterans Grace Lawton (Merrimack, NH/Merrimack) and Ashlyn Desaulniers (Southington, CT/Southington), a consistent duo that ranked one-two on the squad with respective .319 and .280 averages, anchor an offense that brings back all but two regulars in the batting order. In the circle, Liz Hamilton (Powell, OH/Buckeye Valley) will look to improve upon an impressive sophomore campaign that landed her as one of four NEC hurlers to notch at least 11 wins and 100 punchouts.
 
The Knights will ride the coattails of reigning NEC Rookie of the Year Madison Rishel (Strongville, OH/Strongville) as they begin the quest for their first-ever NEC crown in 2026. The third first-year FDU player to garner the league’s top rookie honor since 2022, Rishel was one of two freshmen to bat north of .400 in league play, as she closed out the 21-game slate with a .418 batting average. At season’s end, her .398 bat and 70 hits were second in the circuit behind NEC Player of the Year Savannah Nash (Saint Francis).
 
There’s more on the line for Stonehill and Mercyhurst when they take the field in 2026. The Skyhawks have completed the reclassification process and are now eligible for the NEC’s AQ to the NCAA Tournament, while for the first time since joining the conference in 2024-25, the Lakers are NEC postseason eligible and can compete for the league’s tournament title. 
 
New Haven, which begins its first-ever season as an NCAA Division I and NEC member with a trip to North Dakota, is not eligible for the NEC Tournament this season and the NCAA Tournament until 2029.
 
The NEC Tournament, which features a four-team, double-elimination format, will be played on May 7-9 at the high seed.

About The NEC

Now in its 45th season, the NEC is an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic association consisting of ten institutions of higher learning located throughout six states. Media coverage of the NEC extends to a number of the largest markets in the United States including New York (#1), Chicago (#3), Boston (#9). Hartford/New Haven (#32) and Syracuse (#88). Founded in 1981 as the basketball-only ECAC Metro Conference, the NEC has grown to sponsor 25 championship sports for men and women and now enjoys automatic access to 16 different NCAA Championships. NEC full member institutions include Central Connecticut, Chicago State, FDU, Le Moyne, LIU, Mercyhurst, New Haven, Saint Francis U, Stonehill and Wagner. For more information on the NEC, visit the league's official website (www.necsports.com) and digital network (www.necfrontrow.com), or follow the league on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, all @NECsports.