Wednesday, February 22, 2006

MORAVIAN SOFTBALL SQUAD RANKED 17TH IN NFCA
DIVISION III PRESEASON POLL

STARKVILLE, MS --- The Moravian College softball team has been ranked 17th in the nation in the 2006 National Fastpitch Coaches Association NCAA Division III Preseason Top 25 Poll released late Wednesday.

The University of St. Thomas (MN), last year’s NCAA Division III World Series champion, received seven first-place votes and 199 points to hold down the top spot in the poll. Salisbury (MD) University is second in the poll with 190 points while Chapman (CA) University received the final first place vote and 179 points to rank third. Moravian received 77 points.

Moravian, under the direction of 12th-year head coach John Byrne (370-125), returns ten players and eight starters from last year’s 37-8 squad that made its eighth consecutive trip to the NCAA Division III Tournament. The Greyhounds are also the six-time defending Commonwealth Conference Champions and have added seven talented newcomers to the roster.

Moravian is one of three teams from the East Region ranked with the Greyhounds being joined by sixth-ranked William Paterson University (NJ) and ninth-ranked Rutgers University-Camden.

The Greyhounds, who begin their 2006 season at the Atlantic versus East Challenge in Virginia Beach, Virginia on Friday and Saturday, March 3rd and 4th, will play three teams ranked in the NFCA Preseason Poll. Moravian will play #9 Rutgers-Camden on Saturday, March 4th on the second day of the Atlantic versus East Challenge, and the Greyhounds will battle #2 Salisbury on Saturday, March 11th on the second day of the Salisbury Seagull Tournament. The Greyhounds will also play at #6 William Paterson in a doubleheader in Bethlehem on Thursday, April 20th.

The complete poll can be found at http://nfca.org/top25/index.php?cat_id=3.