NEW HAVEN, Conn. (February 4, 2022) -- Defending champ Georgian Court University was tabbed first in the 2022 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Softball Preseason Coaches Poll, announced on Friday by Commissioner Dan Mara. The Lions earned 147 points in the voting, including eight first-place votes. The voting for the poll was conducted by the league's 13 head coaches in the sport.
The Bloomfield College Bears Softball team were ranked 6^thin the CACC poll. Bloomfield who a year ago knocked off the #2 and #3 seeded playoff teams to earn a spot in the conference tournament championship game, return 12 players from the 2021 squad. "The preseason poll gives us an opportunity to see what everyone else thinks of us," head coach, Phil Delgado said, "but we still need to go out there and prove day in and day out who we are and what kind of program we have built."
 
Georgian Court claimed the 2021 CACC Softball Championship last spring, while also advancing to the NCAA Division II East Region Tournament in Manchester, N.H. The Lions return a large number of letterwinners from last season, as they look to continue their rise in the CACC and East Region in 2022.

Rounding out the top three of the standings included Caldwell University and Dominican College tying for second place with 133 points and a pair of first-place votes. Wilmington University, which claimed the 2019 CACC Championship, was the other school to get at least one first-place nod in the preseason rankings, as the Wildcats were fourth with 129 points and 1 first-place marker.
The 2022 CACC Softball regular season gets underway this weekend with Goldey-Beacom College in action versus Washington Adventist. The Bears start the season on the road for their annual Spring Break trip to Florida, March 5-12.

The regular season will be a buildup to the 2022 CACC Championship from May 5-7, at Georgian Court in Lakewood, N.J.

2022 CACC SOFTBALL PRESEASON COACHES POLL
1. Georgian Court University 147 (8)
T2. Caldwell University 133 (2)
T2. Dominican College 133 (2)
4. Wilmington University 129 (1)
5. Thomas Jefferson University 110
6. Bloomfield College 106
7. Post University 94
8. Felician University 80
9. Nyack College 63
T10. Holy Family University 49
T10. University of the Sciences 49
12. Goldey-Beacom College 42
13. Chestnut Hill College 35

() - First-Place Votes in Parenthesis ABOUT THE CACC
The Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference is an NCAA Division II Conference composed of 13 institutions in Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. The member institutions are Bloomfield College, Caldwell University, Chestnut Hill College, Dominican (N.Y.) College, Felician University, Georgian Court University, Goldey-Beacom College, Holy Family University, Nyack College, Post University of Waterbury, Thomas Jefferson University, University of the Sciences, and Wilmington University.