Northwestern predicted to win 2009 UMAC softball race
ST. PAUL – 2008 Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) champion Northwestern College was tagged as the team to beat in 2009, according the preseason coaches’ poll. The Eagles, who went 19-2 last year in league affairs, received 48 points and six first place votes to lead the pack of eight schools. Northwestern, who is under the leadership of a new head coach in Alicia du’Monceaux, returns eight starters from last year’s championship squad, including the 2008 UMAC Player of the Year in Kelsey Hanson.
Coming in second in the poll with 44 points and two first place votes was the College of St. Scholastica, who won 11 consecutive UMAC championships before yielding the league title to Northwestern in 2008. The Saints, who finished third last season with a 16-5 mark in UMAC contests, also return eight starters to the field, including two pitchers.
2008 UMAC runner-up Northland College was picked to finish third in the poll, receiving 37 points. Northland went 17-4 in league play last season behind the bat of Karin Harnisch, who led the UMAC in batting. Lumberjills head coach Steve Wammer will be without Harnisch this season, but will have returners Brittany Schmitt (2.30 ERA, 113 strikeouts in 2008) and Aurora Albrecht (.344 average, 23 RBI in 2008) to rely upon for team leadership in 2009.
Martin Luther College, who finished fourth in last season’s UMAC standings, earned the same spot in the preseason poll with 26 points. The Knights return catcher Jessica Henning, who posted a .394 batting average and 19 RBI in 2008. The Knights from Martin Luther, along with the University of Minnesota, Morris and Bethany Lutheran College were all within three points of each other at 26, 25 and 23 points for fourth, fifth and sixth place. Presentation College and Crown College rounded out the poll’s bottom two teams with 13 and eight points, respectively.
After each UMAC team makes its rounds through nonconference action, the UMAC schedule will begin to heat up in mid to late March. Following the conclusion of the UMAC regular season, the league’s four-team, double elimination postseason tournament will take place on May 1 and 2, 2009 in Mankato, Minn.
UMAC Preseason Poll (First place votes)
48 Points - Northwestern College (6)
44 Points - College of St. Scholastica (2)
37 Points - Northland College
26 Points - Martin Luther College
25 Points - University of Minnesota, Morris
23 Points - Bethany Lutheran College
13 Points - Presentation College
8 Points - Crown College