Bridgeport Softball Picked Number Four In Ultra-Competitive CACC Race In Preseason Coaches' Poll

New Haven, Conn.-Wilmington University was slated in first place in the 2023 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Softball Preseason Coaches Poll, announced on Wednesday by Commissioner Dan Mara. The Wildcats received 149 points and six first-place votes in the poll, as the voting was conducted by the league's 13 head coaches in the sport.

Caldwell University was tabbed second with 140 points and a pair of first-place nods, and two-time defending champion Georgian Court University was third at 134 points and two first-place tallies as well. University of Bridgeport, which will be competing in its first season in the CACC in 2023, was fourth with 132 points and two first votes.

Wilmington finished 38-20 last season and was just one win shy of reaching the NCAA Division II Softball World Series, as the Wildcats fell in three games to Adelphi in the East Super Regional. Caldwell was 39-17 in 2022 and won a pair of games in the NCAA East Sub-Regional Tournament. GCU won the CACC regular season and tournament championships last spring and hosted a sub-regional in the NCAAs. UB represented its previous conference in the NCAA Tournament as well last season.

The 2023 CACC Softball season gets underway this weekend with Bloomfield College in action in a season-opening tournament in Spartanburg, S.C. The regular season will be a buildup to the CACC Softball Championship, which will feature a new format in 2023. The top eight-teams from the regular season standings will still qualify for the postseason, but first-round games -- featuring all eight qualifying schools -- will be held at the sites of the highest seeds on Saturday, April 29. The four winners will advance to the double-elimination portion of the championship from May 4-6, at Georgian Court in Lakewood, N.J.

2023 CACC SOFTBALL PRESEASON COACHES POLL
1. Wilmington University 149 (6)
2. Caldwell University 140 (2)
3. Georgian Court University 134 (2)
4. University of Bridgeport 132 (2)
5. Post University 94
6. Thomas Jefferson University 90
7. Bloomfield College 89
8. Holy Family University 88 (1)
9. Dominican University 78
10. Felician University 65
11. Goldey-Beacom College 48
12. Alliance University 35
13. Chestnut Hill College 28 

() - First-Place Votes