UNCW Tops Preseason Poll in 2023 CAA Softball
Hunter Peters
RICHMOND, Va. (Feb. 7, 2023) – Defending CAA champion UNCW was selected as the preseason favorite to win the CAA Softball title again in 2023, according to a vote of the league’s 11 head coaches.
The Seahawks collected five first-place votes and 95 points to rank atop the CAA Softball preseason poll for the first time in program history. Delaware also received five first-place votes, following close with 91 points in second. Hofstra tallied one first-place vote and 80 points to round out the top three. Elon, nine points behind the Pride, was fourth, two points ahead of newcomer Stony Brook in fifth. Charleston and Drexel were separated by nine points, ranked sixth and seventh, respectively. Towson and Monmouth followed in eighth and ninth, just two points apart. Hampton and North Carolina A&T rounded out the 11-team poll, entering their first season in the conference.
UNCW is coming off its first-ever CAA Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance in program history. The Seahawks enter 2023 with new leadership under first-year head coach
Ashley Wade; however, the roster has a lot of familiar faces. Back in the circle is the reigning CAA Pitcher of the Year,
Emily Winstead, and last year’s CAA Rookie of the Year,
Kara Hammock. Winstead led the conference in strikeouts (184) and ranked second in earned run average (2.05) as a freshman, while Hammock paced the league with a 1.92 ERA and posted a 12-3 record. The duo helped UNCW’s pitching staff rank ninth in the NCAA in earned run average (1.85) and break a program record with 308 strikeouts. The Seahawks’ lineup returns its top five hitters from last season, including
Mackenzie Amodeo, who was third on the team with a .303 batting average.
Delaware won the CAA regular season title for the first time in program history last spring. Two years removed from a CAA Championship game appearance, the Blue Hens will look to get over the hump this season. The Blue Hens return a league-high five all-conference honorees from 2022, including fifth-year third baseman
Hanna Garber, fifth-year second baseman
Brittney Mendoza, senior pitcher
Emily Winburn, junior outfielder
Julz Garber and sophomore pitcher
Graceyn Frost. Hanna Garber led the team, hitting .359, which ranked sixth in the CAA and recorded a conference-best 48 runs scored. Winburn (13-9, 112K) and Frost (13-5, 100K) tied for the most wins in the CAA last season and tallied 100 punchouts in the circle.
Hofstra showed much improvement in year one under head coach
Adrienne Clark, winning a league-high 13 conference games, the most for the Pride since 2018. Hofstra retains its top three hitters from last season and added a transfer at catcher, who hit .300 or better.
Chelsea Manto hit a team-best .358 and recorded a league-high 63 hits, while
Meghan Giordano (.307/.396/.521) paced the Pride in runs batted in (32) and matched Manto for the team lead in runs scored (30).
Amanda Maffucci (.300) returns in the outfield, with
Becca Vaillancourt joining the lineup from UMass Lowell, where she led the Riverhawks in batting average (.310) and hits (44) last season.
Elon was the runner-up last year after advancing to its second championship game in the past three seasons. The Phoenix was relatively young a season ago and looks to carry the momentum from its championship run into 2023.
Gabi Schaal (.316/.356/.624) is back to lead the Elon lineup. Despite her season ending before the conference tournament, Schaal posted a team-best .980 OPS with nine home runs and was second in the CAA with 38 runs batted in. The Phoenix used five arms regularly last season, including three freshmen.
McKenna McCard (3-3, 3.27 ERA), one of those young arms, looks to build off CAA All-Tournament team honors. She led the team in opponent batting average (.184) and was second in strikeouts (48).
Stony Brook enters its first season in the CAA after a string of recent successes. The Seawolves advanced to the 2019 and 2021 America East Championship games before posting a 31-16 record last season, their best since 2012. Stony Brook returns the top four hitters from its lineup last season, including three America East all-conference honorees.
Alyssa Costello (.373/.418/.578) led the America East in batting average as a freshman, recording 28 RBI and 27 runs scored. An everyday starter behind the plate,
Corinne Badger (.312/.377/.716) paced the America East with 16 home runs and 44 runs batted in. In addition,
Ashley Jacobson had a team-best 1.100 OPS and was second on the team with a .370 batting average.
Charleston returned to the conference championship and won a tournament game in
Tracey Lynch’s first season as head coach. The Cougars will have to replace the production of several key contributors. In the circle, Charleston will turn to
Payton Lemire (5-11), who was sixth in the conference in earned run average (2.64) last season, throwing 108.2 innings with 59 strikeouts.
Mia Dittoe (.254) is one of the top returning bats in the Cougars’ lineup. She was second on the team in runs batted in (20) and runs scored (15) last season while ranking third in hits (35).
Drexel welcomes back three of its top four bats from last season but for the second year in a row, the Dragons will have to replace one of their top hitters in program history.
Jackie Masone,
Grace Abbonizio and
Ameryn Humble are among the returners that look to lift the Drexel lineup. Masone was one of the top first-year players in the conference last season, ranking fourth in the CAA in batting average (.364) and runs scored (37). Abbonizio (.313) and Humble (.304) were third and fourth on the team in batting average, with all three players hitting above .300.
Towson returns its top two hitters from last season, including
Briana Ramirez, a first-team All-CAA honoree in 2022. Ramirez was second in the CAA in batting average (.379) and third in hits (55) while leading the Tigers in runs scored (23).
Mackenzie Lake is also back for her third year as the Tigers' shortstop. Lake, who has started all 74 games in her career, recorded 44 hits and a .303 batting average last year to rank second on the team in both categories.
Monmouth joins the CAA from the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, where they won back-to-back conference titles in 2018 and 2019. The Hawks had a young lineup last season, with six-of-nine starters underclassmen. Monmouth will look to a pair of MAAC All-Rookie honorees to help the Hawks during their transition.
Billie Kerwood (5-18, 3.71 ERA) was fourth in the MAAC in strikeouts (135) during her freshman campaign, tossing 139.2 innings with a .261 opponent batting average in the circle. In the lineup,
Julia Thuer (.219, 12 RBI, 11 R) is the top returning bat for the Hawks.
Hampton enters its inaugural CAA season, joining from the Big South under second-year head coach
Monique White. The Lady Pirates will look to their experience behind the plate and in center field to lead their squad in a new league. Fifth-year catcher
Emily Kepple started all 55 games behind the dish for Hampton last season, posting a .261 batting average with 26 RBI and 17 runs scored. Senior
Kayla Domon, a transfer from Eastern Florida State College, joins the Lady Pirates lineup after hitting .416, stealing 48 bases and scoring 41 runs for the Titans last season.
North Carolina A&T also joins the conference for its first season, most recently from the Big South. The Aggies will be under new leadership this season as
Diego Ibarra takes over the program after helping UNCW to a CAA Championship as an assistant in 2022.
Dezianna Patmon (.322/.432/.539) earned Big South All-Rookie honors following her freshman season and is one of the top returning bats in the Aggies’ lineup, ranking second on the team in hits (37) and runs batted in (24) last season.
Jai Deese will return to the lineup and look to add experience. The senior utility player was limited last season but started 36 games in 2021, hitting .262.
The 2023 season gets underway on Friday, February 10, with nine teams in action over the opening weekend. Hofstra and Drexel begin their seasons a week later.
The season culminates May 9-13 on Long Island for the 2023 CAA Softball Championship at Bill Edwards Stadium, hosted by Hofstra.
2023 CAA Softball Preseason Poll
| Team (1st) |
Points |
| 1. UNCW (5) |
95 |
| 2. Delaware (5) |
91 |
| 3. Hofstra (1) |
80 |
| 4. Elon |
71 |
| 5. Stony Brook |
69 |
| 6. Charleston |
54 |
| 7. Drexel |
45 |
| 8. Towson |
33 |
| 9. Monmouth |
31 |
| 10. Hampton |
21 |
| 11. North Carolina A&T |
15 |
2023 CAA Softball Preseason Watch List
| Name |
School |
Class |
Pos. |
Hometown |
| Grace Abbonizio |
Drexel |
Jr. |
OF |
West Chester, Pa. |
| Mackenzie Amodeo |
UNCW |
So. |
C/DP |
Goldsboro, N.C. |
| Corinne Badger |
Stony Brook |
Sr. |
C |
Pleasant Valley, N.Y. |
| Alyssa Costello |
Stony Brook |
So. |
INF/OF |
Lanoka Harbor, N.J. |
| Jai Deese |
North Carolina A&T |
Sr. |
UTL |
Maxton, N.C. |
| Mia Dittoe |
Charleston |
Jr. |
OF |
Indianapolis, Ind. |
| Kayla Domon |
Hampton |
Fifth |
OF |
Knoxville, Tenn. |
| Graceyn Frost |
Delaware |
So. |
P |
Newark, Del. |
| Hanna Garber |
Delaware |
Fifth |
3B |
Lancaster, Pa. |
| Julz Garber |
Delaware |
Jr. |
OF |
Lancaster, Pa. |
| Meghan Giordano |
Hofstra |
Gr. |
3B/SS |
Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y. |
| Kara Hammock |
UNCW |
So. |
P |
Mechanicsville, N.C. |
| Ameryn Humble |
Drexel |
Jr. |
UTL/OF |
Huntington Beach, Calif. |
| Ashley Jacobson |
Stony Brook |
Jr. |
INF |
Snohomish, Wash. |
| Emily Kepple |
Hampton |
Fifth |
C |
Dayton, Ohio |
| Billie Kerwood |
Monmouth |
So. |
P |
Glenolden, Pa. |
| Mackenzie Lake |
Towson |
Jr. |
SS |
Pittsburgh, Pa. |
| Payton Lemire |
Charleston |
Sr. |
P |
Fort Mill, S.C. |
| Amanda Maffucci |
Hofstra |
Gr. |
OF |
Bellmore, N.Y. |
| Chelsea Manto |
Hofstra |
Sr. |
INF/UTL |
Robbinsville, N.J. |
| Jackie Masone |
Drexel |
So. |
SS |
East Windsor, N.J. |
| McKenna McCard |
Elon |
So. |
P |
Ashburn, Ga. |
| Brittney Mendoza |
Delaware |
Fifth |
2B |
Chula Vista, Calif. |
| Dezianna Patmon |
North Carolina A&T |
So. |
INF |
San Diego, Calif. |
| Arial Pearce |
UNCW |
So. |
OF/P |
Pine Level, N.C |
| Briana Ramirez |
Towson |
Sr. |
OF |
Lake Elsinore, Calif. |
| Gabi Schaal |
Elon |
Jr. |
INF |
Lakeland, Fla. |
| Julia Thuer |
Monmouth |
Jr. |
INF |
Middletown, Del. |
| Becca Vaillancourt |
Hofstra |
Jr. |
C |
Tiverton, R.I. |
| Emily Winburn |
Delaware |
Sr. |
P |
Fort Lauderdale, Fla. |
| Emily Winstead |
UNCW |
So. |
P |
Bunn, N.C. |
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