Galesburg, IL – The Prairie Fire softball team is predicted to finish in the top three of the Midwest Conference South Division during the upcoming season.
The conference’s softball coaches have released their 2012 preseason poll and picked Knox third among the five teams in the division. Monmouth College, which received three first-place votes, is the favorite. Lake Forest College received two first-place votes and is slated to finish behind the Fighting Scots.
Following the Prairie Fire in the MWC South are Illinois College and Grinnell College. IC finished the 2011 season with a 15-19 record (5-7 MWC) and Grinnell was shut out of the win column, going 0-33 (0-13 MWC).
Knox (7-22, 2-11 MWC) got in a groove toward the end of the 2011 season, winning five of seven games between April 13 and April 29. The Prairie Fire also had a winning record at home (5-3) for the first time in several years.
Third-year head coach Ashley Sims returns some key players from last year’s squad, including All-Midwest Conference selection Amber Eisha (South Wilmington, IL, Gardner-South Wilmington). The sophomore led the team on offense with seven doubles, five home runs, and 19 RBI while sporting a .349 batting average in her first season.
Eisha was also the Fire’s top pitcher, winning five games while tossing 98.2 innings and 13 complete games. Also back in the circle for Knox is sophomoreAnna Lemen (Cincinnati, OH, Cincinnati Country Day), who started 13 games - completing six of them - and led the team in ERA while hurling 63 innings. Lemen and Eisha pitched all but 12 innings last season.
Among the other returners the Prairie Fire will count on are a pair of infielders - sophomore Jordan Shaffer (Atlanta, IL, Olympia) and senior Beth McRill (Streamwood, IL, Streamwood).
Shaffer started all 29 games last season and batted .278 with 22 hits and nine RBI. McRill also started every game and batted .268 with 19 hits and 10 runs batted in. She led the team in walks and stolen bases.
The North Division favorite is St. Norbert College. The Green Knights are coming off of a 20-18 season that included a 10-3 mark in league play in 2011. SNC, which has won two MWC titles in the past three years, was knocked out of the 2011 conference tournament in a deciding seventh game. St. Norbert received three first-place votes.
Defending champion Ripon College, which received two first-place votes, is picked to finish second in the North Division. Carroll University, Lawrence University, and Beloit College are predicted to finish third through fifth in the division in the preseason poll.
2012 MWC Preseason Coaches Poll
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