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LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Reigning national champion Christopher Newport starts the year where it finished 2022, as the No. 1 team in the NFCA Division III Top 25 Preseason Coaches Poll.

The (47-1) Captains were the top-ranked team in the country for the final nine weeks, dropping just one contest all season, and winning their final 24 games. They averaged 8.6 runs per game while allowing just 84 runs all season.

Christopher Newport was a perfect 12-0 in the postseason without having to leave their home state, including beating fellow NCAA Finals participant Salisbury (42-8) in the Coast-to-Coast Conference Tournament and sweeping two hard-fought games from 2021 national champion and local rival Virginia Wesleyan in the Super Regionals. At the finals site in Salem, Va., the Captains were 5-0.

Meanwhile, a season that started with a family emergency and 0-7 record turned into one of the best feel-good stories of the year, with head coach Donnie Danklefsen’s Trine squad winning 20 of their final 22 to finish second nationally. The (35-13) Thunder’s lone two losses over that stretch were the two games they lost to Christopher Newport in the best-of-three national championship series.

Six of the eight national finals participants open 2023 ranked in the top eight, with third-place finishers Texas Lutheran (45-6) and Berry (36-13), occupying spots No. 4-5, fifth-place finisher Salisbury (42-8) starting third, and seventh-place finisher Millikin (37-9) opening eighth.

Fifth-place finisher Eastern Connecticut State (44-7), which lost both Schutt Sports/NFCA National Pitcher of the Year Alexis Michon and All-America outfielder Cassie Woods via transfer to national runner-up Trine, is 17th for starters, while seventh-place finisher Worcester Polytechnic (35-17) is 22nd.

Elsewhere, No. 21 Rochester (26-15) won 24 of its final 27 games to close the season, dropping only the first game of a twinbill with Union on April 29, then falling to Virginia Wesleyan and Amherst in the NCAA Regionals in May.

The NFCA Division III Top 25 Coaches Poll is selected by 10 NCAA Division III head coaches representing the 10 NCAA regions. Final 2022 records are listed, with first-place votes in parentheses. Weekly polls begin on March 14 and continue through May 16. A final poll will be released on June 13 following completion of the national championship.

NFCA Division III Top 25 Softball Coaches Poll – Preseason

Rank

Team

Points

2022 Record

2022 Final Rank

1

Christopher Newport (10)

250

47-1

1

2

Trine

240

35-13

2

3

Salisbury

230

42-8

5

4

Texas Lutheran

220

45-6

3

5

Berry

210

36-13

4

6

Belhaven

200

41-8

7

7

Virginia Wesleyan

190

36-13

8

8

Millikin

180

37-9

9

9

Bethel

170

37-7

T10

10

Randolph-Macon

160

35-11

T10

11

Case Western Reserve

150

30-12

13

12

Linfield

140

38-9

14

13

East Texas Baptist

130

33-12

15

14

Wartburg

120

30-4

17

15

Tufts

110

36-12

T23

16

Concordia (Wis.)

100

36-6

16

17

Eastern Connecticut State

90

44-7

6

18

Mary Hardin-Baylor

80

32-11

18

19

Birmingham-Southern

70

32-8

19

20

Babson

51

38-10

23

21

Rochester

43

26-15

NR

22

Worcester Polytechnic Institute

29

35-17

NR

23

WashU

24

32-12

NR

24

Rowan

22

35-10

17

25

Piedmont

20

31-11

14

Others receiving votes: Mount St. Joseph 8, Wisconsin-Eau Claire 7, Hiram 4 and Coe 2.

2023 NFCA Division III Top 25 Committee

Celebrating 40 years in 2023, the NFCA is the professional organization for fastpitch softball coaches. Known for its highly-regarded coaches polls and All-America awards, the NFCA also educates and supports softball coaches on a variety of different levels: from podcasts to awards, to in-person events and National Convention

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