Gulls Selected as the Favorite in Preseason Coaches’ Poll

2014 CCC Preseason Coaches' Poll

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) released their annual Preseason Softball Coaches' Poll which listed Endicott as the favorite in the 2014 standings. The race was close as the Gulls earned 93 points followed by reining CCC Champions Roger Williams with 92 but the Blue and Green tabbed six first place votes to the Hawks three. Voting for the preseason poll was conducted among the league's head softball coaches.

Coming in behind the two top spots is Western New England (79) who earned the #3 seed in the 2013 CCC Tournament. University of New England (65) and Curry (62) round out the #4 and #5 spots after a good showing in the 2013. Salve Regina (56), Eastern Nazarene (32), Gordon (30), Nichols (27) and Wentworth (14) finish up the final five spots in the preseason standings.

The Endicott softball team is coming off an impressive 2013 season where they finished at 17-1 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) and 20-20 overall. The Blue and Green are entering the 2014 season ready to earn the programs 13^th conference championship under the helm of Coach Mark Veilleux, who is entering his 20^th season, the longest of any coach in Endicott's athletic history.

The Gulls will welcome back five seniors including the 2013 Pitcher of the Year and Co-Captain Nell O'Connor (Harwichport, Mass.) along with batting machines, Co-Captains Jesse Bilafer (Concord, Mass.) and Alex Moise (North Reading, Mass.). Last season the Blue and Green reached the conference finals before being ousted by Roger Williams and will look to this senior classes leadership and experience to bring another banner to the program for the first time in three years.

Coming into the season Coach Veilleux and his coaching staff are looking to win another conference title and making waves in Division III softball as he expresses "We are ready to bring another title to the program and take our game to the next level and prove ourselves on the national scale starting off with our strength of schedule and hopefully the regional tournament."

Despite losing four key starters for the Blue and Green, Coach Veilleux will bring back a bulk of his heavy hitters and fielders. Sophomore Sam DiBella (Danvers, Mass.) and senior Kelley Michael (Ipswich, Mass.) will enter the 2014 season as leaders at the plate as they led in RBI's in 2013 with 22 apiece. Following in their stead will be an experienced Bilafer and Moise who have seen the most at bats on this squad throughout their career while sophomore Emily Hoffman (Malden, Mass.) will look to pose a strong sophomore campaign.

Coach Veilleux is pleased with his offense for the upcoming season saying "We will have a deeper 1-9 lineup this year, it will be more balanced and will hopefully play out to our advantage." He is also expecting an aggressive offense as he states "We will certainly be the fastest we have been in a few years and I am really looking forward seeing what these girls can do on the bases, they are a very fast group."

Taking over behind the plate will sit in the hands on sophomore Sam DiBella, who posted an impressive rookie campaign at third base as she earned a spot on the All-CCC First Team while leading the team in homeruns last season with seven, backing her up will be senior Alli Noyes who saw action in 11 games in 2013 and Hoffman who played in 18 games during her rookie season.

The Endicott pitching staff shows depth and experience in the five Gulls that will see time on the circle, led by O'Connor who posted her best season yet in 2013 with 13 starts and 18 overall appearances. The senior went 10-3 while holding an impressive 2.07 ERA capping it off with pitching eight complete games, and striking out 60. Following behind O'Connor for time will be a battle between junior Meg Donegan (Atkinson, N.H.), sophomores Courtney Blake (East Islip, N.Y.), Katherine Clark (Taunton, Mass.) and rookie Leigh Wyman (South Freeport, Maine).

Coach Veilleux is excited to see what O'Connor can do on the mound after her impressive showing in 2013 saying "Nell has high expectations for herself and is always looking to improve, I am confident she is ready to go and control the circle."

In the field Coach Veilleux is expecting his upperclassman to rise to the occasion of filling the voids from last year's senior class saying "We have a lot to make up for and I am looking for everyone to contribute heavily. We will need our captains and upperclassman to really step up and get a strong performance out of the freshman. If we do that we are going to be solid."

On the infield Bilafer will be taking on the role of shortstop this season after spending three seasons at second which will leave a battle between newcomers Chrissy Gikas (Danvers, Mass.) and Julia McNeill (Hauppauge, N.Y.) who will be vying for time at second base. On third base junior Nicolette Delvecchio (Stoneham, Mass.) and freshman's Rachel Couto (Chelmsford, Mass.) and Hannah Graney (Acton, Mass.) will all compete for playing time. Michael, will move from shortstop to first base while having two freshmen, Lexi Pederson (Chandler, Ariz.) and Kate Shields (Seekonk, Mass.) backing the veteran up.

The outfield lost two starters to graduation last year and will be looking to veteran outfielder Moise to take the reins. With her will be junior Jess Linden (Stratford, Conn.), sophomore Jamie Corda (Higganum, Conn.) and freshman Ilyza Holman (Ashland, Mass.).

The softball program has consistently created a hefty strength of schedule starting in their spring training tournament down in Florida, to competing against reigning National Champions Tufts and regional power houses Bowdoin, Babson and Wellesley.

Coach Veilleux states "We play a strong strength of schedule for a reason, if we want to be the best and win conferences championships we have to compete with the best."

The Blue and Green will ship down to Clermont, Fla. for the Dot Richardson Spring Games where they will kick off their season on March, 16^th when they play Bowdoin at 9:00 a.m. followed by Bethany (W.V.) at 11:00 a.m. When they return they will travel for a Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) doubleheader against Salve Regina on March, 28^th then return home on the March, 29^th for their home opener to host CCC opponent Wentworth for a 12/2 p.m. start.

Each home game on the 2014 schedule will be made available online for those who cannot attend via live statistics and a live webcast.  Check the schedule page for links to those offerings.

2014 CCC Softball Preseason Coaches' Poll