DePauw & Hiram Deadlocked Atop 2023 NCAC Softball Preseason Coaches’ Poll

CLEVELAND, OH – North Coast Athletic Conference softball coaches were split when it came down to predicting a champion for the 2023 season as DePauw and Hiram finished in a tie atop the preseason poll. 

The Tigers, who are the defending NCAC champions, and Terriers, who are the defending NCAC tournament champions, each earned four of the eight possible first-place votes which led to a tie in the first position with 45 points apiece. Denison, the league-leader with eight conference championships, and Wooster tied for the third spot after collecting 33 points apiece. The Big Red and Fighting Scots were followed by Wittenberg (27) in fifth, Ohio Wesleyan (20) in sixth, Kenyon (11) in seventh and Oberlin (10) in eighth.

DePauw finished 2022 with a 35-11 overall record and will look to reload this season after losing five All-NCAC players to graduation from its 2022 squad, including three-time NCAC Pitcher of the Year Cami Henry. The Tigers, who went 15-1 in conference play a season ago, return first-team All-NCAC senior infielder Drew Bratcher (Reelsville, IN/South Putnam). The senior proved to be a tough out in 2022, striking out just once in 39 at bats against conference opponents and leading the league in both slugging percentage (.923) and homeruns (5). Bratcher also ranked in the top-four of the NCAC with a .436 batting average and 14 RBI in league play, while also producing the sixth-best on-base-percentage at .488. Junior Goose Moore (Indianapolis, IN/Indianapolis Lutheran) also returns after leading DePauw with a .474 batting average in 19 at bats in league play and compiling the team’s second-best on-base-percentage (.524), while successfully swiping six bags in conference matchups. Eleventh-year head coach Erica Hanrahan has produced a 276-147 overall record and a 124-16 mark in conference play, while guiding the Tigers into the national tournament on eight occasions.

It will be a different story for Hiram this spring as the team returns five all-conference selections from last year's team that compiled an overall record of 26-16 and finished second in the NCAC standings with a 13-3 mark. The team returns reigning NCAC Player of the Year graduate student Giselle Bahena (Pomona, CA/Bishop Amat Memorial) and 2022 Newcomer of the Year sophomore Darian Kanno (Mililani, HI/Mid-Pacific Institute). In NCAC play a season ago, Bahena topped the conference in batting average (.574), on-base-percentage (.643), hits (27), runs (17) and doubles (11), while Kanno led the league in RBI (18), total bases (42) and tied with Bahena for the most hits (27). The sophomore also ranked top-five in the NCAC with seven doubles, two home runs and one triple, to go along with a .500 batting average, .517 on-base percentage and .778 slugging percentage during her rookie season. On the mound, Kanno recorded a league-best 8.71 strikeouts per seven innings, while compiling an 8-2 NCAC record, throwing 58.2 innings and seven complete games. Against league foes, she tallied 73 strikeouts and a 1.31 ERA. Hiram will be led by first-year interim head coach Summer Collins who took over for Scott Pohlman as he stepped into the Athletic Director role for the Terriers after six years at the helm of the softball program. Collins is no stranger to the team, as she joined the Terriers as a graduate assistant in 2020 and helped lead Hiram to tremendous success over the last two years. Last season, Hiram recorded the most conference victories (13) and third-most overall wins (26) in program history, while earning its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2011. The Terriers head into their first game receiving votes in the 2023 National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) preseason poll.
 
The first league games of the 2023 season are slated for Saturday, April 1. The NCAC Tournament will be held Friday-Saturday, May 12-13, at the top seed.

Since the NCAC began sponsoring softball as a championship sport in 1998, five different teams have claimed conference championships. Denison leads the way in that grouping with eight titles (2001-03, '06, '07, 2009-11), while DePauw has captured seven (2013-16, '19, ’21, ‘22) and Allegheny owns five (1998, '99, 2004, '08, '12). Ohio Wesleyan (2004, '05, '10) and Wittenberg (2000, '17, '18) also own three titles apiece. The NCAC instituted the conference tournament in 2001 to determine the league's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. Denison (2001, '02, '06, '08, '10, '12) and DePauw (2014, '15, '17, '18, '19, ‘21) have earned six tournament titles apiece followed by Allegheny with four (2004, '05, '07, '13), Hiram (2009, '11, ‘22) with three and Wittenberg (2003, '16) with two.
 
2023 NCAC Softball
Preseason Coaches’ Poll
Rank School (1st place votes) Points
1. DePauw (4) 45
Hiram (4)  45
3. Denison 33
Wooster   33
5. Wittenberg 27
6. Ohio Wesleyan 20
7. Kenyon 11
8. Oberlin 10

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