Orangeburg, N.Y. (2/4/16)  The Dominican College softball squad was picked to finish second  in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Softball Preseason Coaches Poll, as announced by Commissioner Dan Mara.

Caldwell University received 195 points in the voting, including 13 first-place votes, as the Cougars will look to defend both their regular season and tournament titles in 2016.

Dominican took second in the poll with 175 points and one first-place vote, while Wilmington University rounded out the top three with 167 points.

Dominican went 33-19 a season ago and reached the CACC Championship Final before coming up just short against the Cougars. The Lady Chargers return several letterwinners from last year, including First-Team All-CACC catcher Shannon Haukap*. The senior was a terror at the plate last season as she batted .313 with a pair of home runs, 40 runs batted in and 35 runs scored. She led the CACC in RBIs and triples (6). Her 84 total bases were the third-highest total in the league. Haukap was also phenomenal defensively by throwing out nine runners trying to steal, which was tops in the league.  The reining CACC Rookie of the Year, Jillian Regan, also returns to the starting lineup.

The Cougars, who went 37-14-1 last year, will look to continue their success in 2016 by returning two of their top hitters and a pair of standout hurlers. Amy Hickman returns to the lineup for her junior season after leading the team with a .421 batting average along with 51 hits, 27 runs scored, 13 RBI and 10 stolen bases. Hickman was a First-Team All-CACC and First-Team All-East Region selection in 2015. Senior Brielle Reighn batted .362 last season with 34 runs scored, 50 hits, 10 doubles, four triples and 32 RBI. 

Caldwell also returns its top-two pitchers from last season in senior Amber Padilla and junior Sydney Ponto. Padilla went 20-6 in the circle with a 1.82 ERA with 20 complete games and 138 strikeouts in 172.2 innings pitched. She was named to the All-CACC Second-Team, Daktronics East Region Second-Team and ECAC Second-Team All-Star. Ponto finished the season with a 14-6 record with 2.66 ERA with nine complete games and 90 strikeouts in 118 innings pitched.

Wilmington, which along with Caldwell advanced to the NCAA East Regional Tournament last year, went 34-18 overall. The Wildcats return three All-CACC performers, including a pair of first-teamers in second baseman Cambria Ziemba and outfielder Danielle Bradley. Ziemba batted .382 and ranked second in the CACC in at-bats (173), runs (40) and hits (66). She was also third with 21 stolen bases. Bradley batted .333 with two homers and 22 RBI.

The remainder of the CACC Preseason Poll included Post University (4th, 157 points), Holy Family University (5th, 130 points), Felician University (T6th, 108 points), Bloomfield College (T6th, 108 points), Philadelphia University (8th, 96 points), Georgian Court University (9th, 93 points), University of the Sciences (10th, 84 points), Concordia College (11th, 52 points), Chestnut Hill College (12th, 48 points), Nyack College (13th, 34 points) and Goldey-Beacom College (14th, 23 points).

The 2016 regular season will be a build up to the CACC Softball Championship, which will be held April 28-30 at Georgian Court University in Lakewood, N.J. The winner of the tournament will receive the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division II East Region Tournament at a site to be determined.

The Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference is an NCAA Division II Conference composed of 14 institutions in Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. The member institutions are Bloomfield College, Caldwell University, Chestnut Hill College, Concordia (N.Y.) College, Dominican (N.Y.) College, Felician University, Georgian Court University, Goldey-Beacom College, Holy Family University, Nyack College, Philadelphia University, Post University of Waterbury, University of the Sciences, and Wilmington University.

2016 CACC SOFTBALL PRESEASON COACHES POLL
1. Caldwell 195 (13)
2. Dominican 175 (1)
3. Wilmington 167
4. Post 157
5. Holy Family 130
T6. Felician 108
T6. Bloomfield 108
8. Philadelphia 96
9. Georgian Court 93
10. USciences 84
11. Concordia 52
12. Chestnut Hill 48
13. Nyack 34
14. Goldey-Beacom 23

() -- First-Place Votes