Christopher Newport and Salisbury shared top billing in the 2024 Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference (C2C) Softball Preseason Poll following a survey of the C2C head coaches.

The Captains and Sea Gulls each received a pair of first-place votes for eight total points.  Mary Washington was third and Mount Mary fourth to round out the poll.

The 2024 season launches in mid-February and concludes with the double-elimination C2C Softball Championship taking place May 10-12 at the top seed. Teams will be seeded based on regular season conference records and will be finalized the Monday before the tournament. 

Below is a brief preview of each team entering the 2024 season:

Christopher Newport is coming off a 31-13 final record last season and a trip to the finals of the NCAA Tournament.  Leading a group of 16 returners is senior third baseman Brooke Greaver, the C2C Player of the Year last year. She hit a team-high 13 home runs and led the squad with a .396 average, 42 hits, and 41 runs batted in.  CNU will also be led by junior pitchers Kate Alger and Jamie Martin. Alger recorded a record of 16-6 with a 1.31 earned run average for the Captains last year. Martin, meanwhile, returned from a foot injury and posted a record of 11-6 for CNU as well as an earned run average of 1.96.  CNU's roster for 2024 includes 16 returners (five seniors, eight juniors, and three sophomores). Nine freshmen will also battle for playing time, and the Captains also have a fifth-year senior and junior transfer preparing for the upcoming campaign.  Keith Parr begins his 21st season leading the Captains with a career record of 666-201-1 for a winning percentage of .768.

Salisbury, the 2023 NCAA Division III runner-up, heads into the 2024 season looking to build off their success a season ago. Offensively the Sea Gulls return Abby Mace who is currently fifth on the career runs scored list with 165, tied for second on the career triples list with 12, second on the career home runs list with 45, and tied for ninth on the career runs batted in list with 139. On the mound, the Sea Gulls return Nicole Ortega who had a 10-1 record to go along with a 1.21 earned run average.

Mary Washington opens the season starting a new chapter with new head coach Hannah Qualls, who takes the reins of the Eagles after the retirement of Dee Conway after 36 years at the helm. UMW welcomes back four all-conference selections to the mix, including three-year all-C2C pitcher Caitlyn Burch, as well as shortstop Aminah Shakir, outfielder Nya Lloyd, and catcher/DP Emma Schieda. Burch finished 2023 with an 11-8 record, with 178 strikeouts and a 1.78 ERA in 122 innings. Shakir batted .293 with 23 runs scored, and Lloyd batted .283. Schieda led the team with a .387 average, with five home runs and 24 RBI. Others returning to the fold for the Eagles are infielders Bridget Laychak (.259), Shelby Presgrave (.273), catcher Erica Shoop (.325), and outfielders Brigid Ward and Rayna Lloyd. Samantha Stuart pitched to a 3.31 ERA last season as a freshman, and sophomore Taylor Hudson returns after missing last year with injury.

Mount Mary is coming off the winningest two-year period in program history and a strong nucleus of returning players has the team primed for another season of success.  The pitching staff is led by Brianna Lupa, who has re-written the MMU record books and looks to build on her eight-win season from 2023.  The offense will be paced by second team all-conference player Sam Allen, who batted .313 last season.  Other returning leaders include Micaela Gonzalez, Brianna Ecker and Mary DeFore, and Marissa Heraly.