PITMAN--After claiming the NJAC regular season championship and earning an at-large selection to the 2010 NCAA Tournament, The College of New Jersey was selected as the 2011 preseason softball favorite in the New Jersey Athletic Conference. The Lions will be seeking their 12th league title since the inception of softball as a NJAC championship sport back in 1983.

 
TCNJ was selected to finish first on six-of-the-ten ballots cast by the league head coaches. The Lions posted a 33-10 overall record in 2010 while winning the league regular season title with a conference-best 16-2 NJAC mark. Under the leadership of 2010 NJAC Coach of the Year Sally Miller, TCNJ has accumulated a 413-187-2 overall record during her 15 seasons in Ewing. The Lions return a pair of all-conference performers from their 2010 NCAA squad, including junior outfielder Crystal Lee and junior pitcher Lauren Fitzsimmons.

  
Rowan University, which finished third in the 2010 NJAC race with a 12-6 league record, was selected to place second and received three first place votes. The 2010 Profs, led by the reigning NJAC Player of the Year in junior outfielder Nicolina Veneziano, finished 28-13 overall. Under the leadership of 15th-year head coach Kim Wilson, Rowan has produced a record of 436-163, improving Wilson’s career collegiate coaching mark to 500-220. In addition to Veneziano, the Profs return a pair of all-league performers, including junior pitcher Jamie Minix and junior shortstop Ashley Minch.

Ramapo College, which finished the 2010 season with a 29-17 overall record, was selected to finish third and received one first place vote. Roadrunners’ head coach Ben Allen has produced an overall record of 346-149 during 12 seasons in Mahwah. The Roadrunners, who placed second in the NJAC race last season with a 14-4 league mark while earning a bid to the ECAC Tournament, return a league-high four all-conference performers, including senior pitcher Lyndsay Buehler, sophomore outfielder Danielle Rothenberger, senior pitcher Deanna Giordano, and senior catcher Stephanie Malgeri.

The defending NJAC champion Kean University Cougars were selected to place fourth. In 2010, Kean became the first fifth-seeded team in any conference sport to claim an NJAC Tournament title en route to finishing 32-17 overall. The Cougars, who earned the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, advanced all the way to the Regional Championship Game, falling one win short of the NCAA National Championship Series. Kean head coach Margie Acker has accumulated an overall record of 218-215-1 during 11 seasons in Union. The Cougars return one all-conference player from their NJAC Championship squad in senior first baseman Katie Yard.

William Paterson University, which captured the NJAC title in 2009, was selected to place sixth. The 2010 Pioneers finished fourth in the NJAC regular season with an 11-7 mark en route to finishing with an overall record of 26-15-1. WPU head coach Hallie Cohen has posted a record of 426-223-3 during 16 seasons in Wayne, improving her overall career collegiate coaching record to 621-368-4. The Pioneers return three all-league performers, including senior second baseman Lindsay Nadolny, senior designated player Heather Mendez, and senior first baseman/pitcher Jenna Vitale.

The coaches’ dark horse selection, Richard Stockton College, was selected to place sixth. The 2010 Ospreys finished sixth in the conference regular season before advancing all the way to the NJAC Tournament Championship Game.  Stockton also earned a bid in the ECAC Tournament en route to a 28-17 overall record. The longest-tenured of all NJAC softball coaches, Val Julien has accumulated a record of 420-433-2 during 24 seasons in Pomona. Stockton returns three all-conference players from its NJAC runner-up squad, including sophomore shortstop Joey Afflitto, junior pitcher Jamie Gasko, and senior third baseman Danielle Accardi.

Montclair State University, which captured the NJAC title in 2008, was selected to place seventh. Red Hawks’ head coach Anita Kubicka has produced an overall career coaching mark of 637-240-2 during 20 seasons at MSU, including a record of 21-15 in 2010. The Red Hawks return one all-conference player in senior outfielder Leslie Gonzalez.

 
Rutgers University-Camden, which earned a selection to the 2010 ECAC Tournament, was selected to place eighth. Fourth-year head coach Brian Wolverton has accumulated a career coaching record of 56-63-1 during three seasons in Camden, including a mark of 22-16 in 2010.

Rutgers-Newark, led by fourth-year head coach Patty Clarke, was selected to place ninth. The Scarlet Raiders finished 11-27 overall in 2010.

New Jersey City University, which produced an overall record of 14-26 in 2010, was selected to place 10th. Eighth-year head coach Bridgette Quimpo skippers a squad which returns the reigning NJAC Rookie of the Year in sophomore third baseman Rebecca Satz.  

The 29th season of NJAC softball will get underway on Friday, March 4 when Rowan travels to face Lynchburg in Virginia Beach. NJAC league play will begin 29 days later with the first conference contests scheduled for April 2.

 
The top six regular season finishers will advance to the double-elimination 2011 NJAC Championship Tournament which will begin at campus sites on Tuesday, May 3. All six of the participating teams will then travel to the site of the top-seed where the remainder of the tournament will be conducted from Friday, May 6 through Sunday, May 8. The winner of the NJAC Tournament receives the conference’s automatic qualification to the NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament.