Coming off a second-place finish in its first year as a member of the South Atlantic Conference, the Emory & Henry College Softball Team has been picked to finish fifth in the league this season. The poll, voted on by the 13 coaches in the conference, was released on Wednesday.
Last year, Emory & Henry went 23-16 with a 16-8 mark in the SAC. The Wasps picked up league sweeps over Carson-Newman University, Coker University, Limestone University, Tusculum University and the University of Virginia’s College at Wise on the way to tying for a second-place finish in the regular season.
Wingate University, last year’s SAC regular-season champions and NCAA Division II Southeast Super Regional participant, is picked to repeat with 11 first-place votes. Lenoir-Rhyne University is second in the poll while Lincoln Memorial University, the SAC Tournament Champion from a year ago, earned the final two top nods and is third. Carson-Newman University sits fourth while Emory & Henry is fifth.
Additionally, the SAC announced its Preseason All-Conference teams with junior centerfielder Mackenzie Williams (St. Augustine, Fla.) selected to the Second Team while sophomore second baseman Abigail Street (Glade Spring, Va.) was chosen to the Third Team.
Williams started all 37 games in centerfield, batting at or near the top of the lineup all season. She posted a team-leading .368 batting average while also leading the squad in hits (43), runs (20) and stolen bases (13). Her .448 on-base percentage was also at the top of the chart for the Wasps as she took advantage of five doubles on the year to notch a .410 slugging average. Williams posted a 13-game on-base streak midway through the season and also had an 11-contest stretch to open the campaign.
Street started 33 of the 34 games in which she played before suffering a season-ending injury. She batted .316 with 31 hits, six doubles, 16 runs scored, 16 RBI, 10 walks and four stolen bases. Street notched a .396 on-base percentage and a .378 slugging average. She had a nine-game hitting streak midway through the year and had a hit in 14 of her final 15 games. Street also made seven appearances in the circle, posting a 3.33 ERA in 21 innings with seven strikeouts.
Emory & Henry gets the 2024 campaign started on Saturday, February 3 and Sunday, February 4 with four games on the campus of Georgia College & State University in Milledgeville. The Wasps will face Emmanuel (Ga.) University and Georgia College once each day.
