Fayetteville, N.C. – The expectations for the 2015 Piedmont College softball season have been set high after the team was selected to defend its USA South crown in the 2015 preseason coaches poll released earlier today by the conference. The Lady Lions took home the USA South regular season and tournament title in 2014 becoming the first team to take both titles in the same season since 2009.
The Lady Lions took 11 of the available 13 first place votes tallying 141 points overall while second place Averett took the remaining two first place votes and 131 points in the poll. Averett finished the 2014 season in third behind Huntingdon who finished third in the 2015 preseason poll with 120 points.
Piedmont returns some key players from last season but also has 14 freshmen joining the mix in 2015. The Lady Lions are under the leadership of Terry Martin who enters his 17th year and his assistant Bob Lowe who was hired in the fall.
Ferrum took the fourth spot with 105 points while LaGrange was the team who made the biggest jump from 2014 to 2015 taking the fifth spot with 90 points overall. LaGrange finished the 2014 season in eighth overall with a .500 record at 11-11 in the USA South.
Sixth and seventh belong to Greensboro (78 points) and N.C. Wesleyan (71 points) respectively, each finishing in the same spot as they did a season ago in the final standings for 2014. The biggest fall in the poll from last season was Meredith who ended the year fifth in the league but was selected eighth this season with 70 points.
The final spots in the poll belong to William Peace in ninth (63 points), Methodist in 10th (62 points), Covenant in 11th (37 points), Maryville in 12th (34 points) and Mary Baldwin in 13th (12 points).
The 2015 USA South Softball Championship will be held in Rocky Mount, N.C. as part of the spring sports festival on April 17-19 at the Rocky Mount Sports Complex.
Piedmont begins the season on February 17 on the road against Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia with a doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m. The home opener comes just two days later on February 19 when the Lady Lions host Agnes Scott College for a doubleheader beginning at 4 p.m.
2015 USA South Softball Preseason Coaches Poll
Rank Institution (1st Place Votes) Pts.
1. Piedmont (11) 141
2. Averett (2) 131
3. Huntingdon 120
4. Ferrum 105
5. LaGrange 90
6. Greensboro 78
7. N.C. Wesleyan 71
8. Meredith 70
9. William Peace 63
10. Methodist 62
11. Covenant 37
12. Maryville 34
13. Mary Baldwin 12
