Cobra Softball Picked Fifth in Conference Carolinas Preseason Poll

HIGH POINT, N.C. – The Coker College softball team earned a Top 5 ranking in this year's Conference Carolinas Softball Preseason Coaches Poll released on Friday. The Cobras are picked fifth as voted on by league head coaches.

The reigning Conference Carolinas Softball Tournament Champion, Erskine College, received the top spot in the poll, followed by Limestone College in second and Lees-McRae College in third.

The Cobras are once again led by head coach David Hanna as he enters his 21^st year leading the Coker softball team. Hanna will begin the 2012 season just one win shy of 700 career victories. All 700 wins have come at Coker and currently Hanna is ranked No. 11 in the NCAA as one of the Winningest Coaches of All-Time. He is ranked No. 3 in NCAA Division II.

The 2012 season looks to be a very promising season for Hanna and the diamond Cobras. Having lost just three players from last season's squad, the Cobras will be looking to improve on their third place finish in last season's Conference Carolinas regular season standings. A young team, the Cobras are led by lone senior Becky Dillon and three juniors; Jaclin Poole, Jordan Atkinson and Sarah Rountree.

Also returning to help lead this Coker is All-Conference catcher Stacy Burr. The sophomore backstop was a First Team All-Conference selection with a .293 batting average, seven doubles, a triple, five home runs and 23 RBIs.

Coach Hanna added five new faces to the Cobras line-up in the off-season, including two pitchers Katie Lee and Logan Cox.

Coker opens their 2012 season on Friday, Feb. 10 at home with a non-conference doubleheader against Mars Hill College. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.

Conference Carolinas Pre-Season Coaches Poll (First place votes in parenthesis)