WATERBURY, Conn. -- Coming off back-to-back single-digit win seasons, Post University Softball has been picked to finish in tenth place with 13 points in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference's Preseason Coaches Poll released today. Last year's conference champions in Wilmington University were picked to repeat with 80 points and eight first-place votes.
Also inside the top three were the University of Bridgeport in second place with 66 points, followed by Jefferson University in third with 59 points and a first-place vote. The lone other first-place vote went to Goldey-Beacom College in sixth place with 49 points. Just ahead of last-place Post, Chestnut Hill College was picked ninth with 17 points, and Dominican (N.Y.) in eighth place with 22 points.
Post will start their 2026 season at home against Southern Connecticut State University on March 6th, followed by a doubleheader against Assumption University on March 11th ahead of their trip to Florida. After their 12-game trip down south, the Eagles will have only two non-conference doubleheaders, with one against AIC at home on March 25th, while the other will be at Mercy University on April 21st, with the rest of their games being in conference play.Â
Head Coach
Tracey Garofalo returned to the helm of the program in November of last year after four seasons at the College of Staten Island, as former Head Coach
Julie Meyer-Jones transitioned roles within athletics after four seasons. Garofalo coached at Post for 15 seasons before leaving for CSI before the 2022 season, where 10 players were named to All-Conference honors, and three were D2CCA All-East Region players. The Dolphins were beginning their transition to Division II athletics around the time Garofalo arrived on campus.
Now returning to a familiar stomping ground, Garofalo will look to get the Eagles back to the CACC Tournament, as Post has missed the playoffs the last three seasons, marking the first time they missed the playoffs in back-to-back seasons. She will do so with a team that returns 10 players from last season, while adding two transfers in
Sydney Jones and
Madison Ocasio. Among the newcomers are
Tatiana Martinez,
Sofia Hynds, and
Haley DiBona, who all hail from Connecticut, while
Bailey Ruel comes from Salem, New Hampshire, as a two-way player on the mound and first base.
Pitching-wise, of the five pitchers who saw action on the mound last season, four of them will return, with only
Alyssa Hughes leaving the team after graduating last spring. Graduate student
Katelyn Lipsky will make her return to the mound after suffering an injury during the Florida trip, forcing her out of the 2025 campaign after just six appearances on the mound in which she pitched 29 2/3 innings and had a team-high 29 strikeouts at the end of the season. Ruel also figures to work her way onto the mound for Post as a right-hander for a staff that had a team ERA of 9.66 at the end of last season, allowing 390 runs.Â
Offensively, Post manufactured just 104 runs last season, recording a .223 team batting average, but the team leader in batting average,
Nyla Sapia, is back after hitting .273 last season with six doubles, a home run, and nine RBIs, while tying for the team lead in walks with 16 in 42 games played.
Allysa Calabrese will look to build off her impressive sophomore season in which she hit .262, which was second on the team, with six doubles, three triples, one home run, and 10 RBIs, while the team's leading offensive threat,
Bailey Dickenson, who had two home runs and 19 RBIs and a near-perfect fielding percentage, graduated in the spring.
Opening Day is slated for March 6th at 1:00 PM from LaMoy Field as the Eagles will take on Southern Connecticut State University for their first doubleheader of the season.Â
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