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League softball coaches put Mount Mercy third
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- After their best season in more than a decade, Mount Mercy has been picked third in the 2010 Midwest Collegiate Conference preseason softball coaches poll, which was released on Monday.
Grand View was a slim favorite to win the conference title. The Vikings received four first-place votes and 72 points overall, putting them just ahead of William Penn (two first-place votes, 70 points) and Mount Mercy (two first-place votes, 67 points).
Waldorf got the final first-place vote and came in fourth with 59 points. They were followed by St. Ambrose (43 points), Iowa Wesleyan (30), Clarke (27), Viterbo (Wis.) (21), and Ashford (16).
William Penn got the better of Grand View on the national scene, landing at 21st with 245 points in the NAIA Softball Coaches' Top 25 Preseason Poll. Grand View was 36th with 19 votes. Defending national champion California Baptist was tabbed as the No. 1 team in the country.
Mount Mercy returns all five all-conference players from a 2009 squad that finished fourth in the league with a 29-20 overall mark and 14-12 conference record. The Mustangs knocked off top-seeded William Penn to advance to the championship round of the MCC Tournament last spring, where they fell, 6-4, to second-seeded Waldorf.
Headlining Mount Mercy's lineup are 2009 first-team all-conference standouts Emily Madsen, Brianna Williams, Elizabeth Hill, and Becca Smith. Madsen, a senior outfielder, led the Mustangs with a .373 batting average, three triples, and 40 runs batted in. She was also one of five Mustangs with at least 10 stolen bases.
Williams, a senior shortstop, batted .336 with four home runs, 35 RBIs, and 10 steals. Hill, a sophomore designated player, maintained a team-high .504 slugging percentage, and she ranked second on the squad with a .348 average, three home runs, nine doubles, and 29 RBIs.
Smith, a sophomore right-hander, was one of the top pitchers in the MCC as a freshman, posting a 21-10 record with a 1.92 earned run average while leading the league in strikeouts and innings pitched. In 215 1/3 innings, she walked just 28 batters while striking out 255, breaking the school record of 178 that had stood since 1986.
Senior outfielder Sheena Canady, honorable mention all-conference last year, also returns for the Mustangs. She blasted a team-high five homers and drive in 22 runs while batting .247. Canady also ranked fifth in the nation with a school-record 42 steals in 43 attempts.
Mount Mercy opens the 2010 season with a doubleheader against Dubuque at the UNI Tournament on Friday, Feb. 12, at 8:00 p.m. at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls. After that, the Mustangs compete in the MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) Tournament Friday-Saturday, Feb. 26-27, in Olathe, Kan. Mount Mercy's home opener will be Saturday, March 31, against William Penn at Marion High School.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- After their best season in more than a decade, Mount Mercy has been picked third in the 2010 Midwest Collegiate Conference preseason softball coaches poll, which was released on Monday.Grand View was a slim favorite to win the conference title. The Vikings received four first-place votes and 72 points overall, putting them just ahead of William Penn (two first-place votes, 70 points) and Mount Mercy (two first-place votes, 67 points).
Waldorf got the final first-place vote and came in fourth with 59 points. They were followed by St. Ambrose (43 points), Iowa Wesleyan (30), Clarke (27), Viterbo (Wis.) (21), and Ashford (16).
William Penn got the better of Grand View on the national scene, landing at 21st with 245 points in the NAIA Softball Coaches' Top 25 Preseason Poll. Grand View was 36th with 19 votes. Defending national champion California Baptist was tabbed as the No. 1 team in the country.
Mount Mercy returns all five all-conference players from a 2009 squad that finished fourth in the league with a 29-20 overall mark and 14-12 conference record. The Mustangs knocked off top-seeded William Penn to advance to the championship round of the MCC Tournament last spring, where they fell, 6-4, to second-seeded Waldorf.
Headlining Mount Mercy's lineup are 2009 first-team all-conference standouts Emily Madsen, Brianna Williams, Elizabeth Hill, and Becca Smith. Madsen, a senior outfielder, led the Mustangs with a .373 batting average, three triples, and 40 runs batted in. She was also one of five Mustangs with at least 10 stolen bases.
Williams, a senior shortstop, batted .336 with four home runs, 35 RBIs, and 10 steals. Hill, a sophomore designated player, maintained a team-high .504 slugging percentage, and she ranked second on the squad with a .348 average, three home runs, nine doubles, and 29 RBIs.
Smith, a sophomore right-hander, was one of the top pitchers in the MCC as a freshman, posting a 21-10 record with a 1.92 earned run average while leading the league in strikeouts and innings pitched. In 215 1/3 innings, she walked just 28 batters while striking out 255, breaking the school record of 178 that had stood since 1986.
Senior outfielder Sheena Canady, honorable mention all-conference last year, also returns for the Mustangs. She blasted a team-high five homers and drive in 22 runs while batting .247. Canady also ranked fifth in the nation with a school-record 42 steals in 43 attempts.
Mount Mercy opens the 2010 season with a doubleheader against Dubuque at the UNI Tournament on Friday, Feb. 12, at 8:00 p.m. at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls. After that, the Mustangs compete in the MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) Tournament Friday-Saturday, Feb. 26-27, in Olathe, Kan. Mount Mercy's home opener will be Saturday, March 31, against William Penn at Marion High School.
