Softball selected fourth in PAC Preseason Poll

Andrew Woodley, Sports Information Director

GREENVILLE, Pa. (Feb. 14) – The Bethany College softball team was tabbed to finish fourth in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Preseason Coaches' Poll released Tuesday afternoon.

Saint Vincent College was picked as the preseason favorite to repeat as the winner of this year's championship tournament. The Bearcats collected five of the league's 10 first-place votes in the poll. Thomas More (two first-place votes) and Westminster (one first-place vote) tied for second in the poll, followed by Bethany in fourth place with one first-place vote.

Washington & Jefferson (one first-place votes) was selected fifth, while Thiel, Geneva, Waynesburg, Grove City and Chatham rounded out the poll.

The Bison enter the year coming off of a 22-20 overall record in 2017, including an appearance in the PAC Tournament Championship game where they were defeated in a pair of 1-0 games by preseason-favorite Saint Vincent.

Bethany will need to replace three of its top hitters from last season, but will return junior pitchers Cassie Weiss (Avella, Pa./McGuffey) and Sam Binkley (Kenilworth, Ontario/St. James), who started 38 of the team's 42 games a year ago. Weiss, an All-PAC and National Fastpitch Coaches' Association (NFCA) All-Central Region selection, led the PAC with 172 strikeouts and held opponents to a .249 batting average.

Weiss and Binkley were joined by senior Sarah Coss (Bowie, Md./Bishop McNamara) and junior Aubrey Baehr (Evans City, Pa./Seneca Valley) on the PAC's "Players to Watch" section of the preseason poll. Baher is the team's top returning batter after hitting .267 in 2016, while Coss stands as the top returning run producer, collecting 14 RBI last season.

The 2017 PAC Softball Championship Tournament will be held Friday-Saturday, May 5-6. The league's four-team, double-elimination championship tournament will be hosted by the top seed coming out of the regular season.