Johnson & Wales University announces Softball tabbed first in GNAC Preseason Poll

From February 20, 2023 post

WINTHROP, Mass. – The Johnson & Wales (RI) University softball team has been picked to finish first in the South Division in the 2023 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Preseason Poll.

The five-time conference champion Wildcats (2015-18, 2022) received eight of a possible 13 first-place votes and finished with 85 points, two better than Albertus Magnus, which received the five remaining first-place votes.

Second-year head coach Jon Ladino welcomes back seven all-conference selections from last season's record-setting squad: graduate students Megan Antaya (OF) and Jill Pulek (3B), senior Meaghan Gurska (C), juniors Julia Huzi (SS) and Hailey Erickson (1B), and sophomores Caroline Amorelli (OF) and Mackenzie Clee (UT).  

Pulek drove in a conference-best 57 runs and finished second in on-base pct. (.518), fourth in both home runs (nine) and slugging pct. (.797), and seventh in batting average (.434). Clee – the 2022 GNAC Rookie of the Year – finished second in average (.464) and third in both steals (22) and OBP (.510). Gurska batted .351 and her 39 RBI earned her a share of third in the conference.

Amorelli excelled in her first season at JWU, finishing ninth in the GNAC in RBI (33) while batting .393. Erickson batted .396 and laced 13 doubles (t-No. 6 in GNAC) while Huzi hit .404 to go with five triples (No. 2 in GNAC) and a .486 OBP (No. 10 in GNAC).

The University of Saint Joseph was picked third in the south (63 points), followed by Lasell (49), Regis (MA) (42), Elms (25), and Dean (17 points). In the North Division, Emmanuel (MA) was picked first with 71 points (8 first-place votes), followed by Simmons (66 points; 5 first-place votes), Saint Joseph's (ME) (57), Rivier (40), Norwich (22), and Anna Maria (17).

The Wildcats open the season on Sunday, March 5 with games against Hiram (9:00 a.m.) and Thomas (ME) (11:30 a.m.) in Auburndale, Florida.

Original source can be found here.