FOREST, Va. – The Emory & Henry College Softball Team has been picked to finish 10th in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference regular season, ODAC officials announced Thursday. The poll was voted on by the league's 11 head coaches.

Emory & Henry has undergone yet another coaching change and has its fourth different coach in five seasons. First-year Head Coach Tommy Forrester returns to his alma mater where he was a four-year letterwinner on the baseball diamond for Dewey Lusk (2001-04).

Forrester's biggest goals early in his career are to bring stability to the Wasp softball program and to focus on the fundamentals of the game while building a winning tradition. E&H also has its sights set on reaching the ODAC Tournament for the second time in three years.

Returning this season for Emory & Henry is sophomore Hannah Bays (Abingdon, Va.), who was a 2013 All-ODAC First Teamer and NFCA All-Atlantic Region Third Team selection as a third baseman. Bays hit .336 in her freshman campaign with school-records of 12 home runs and 49 RBI. She was the first player since 2005 to earn first-team all-league honors and the first since 2004 to be named all-region. This year, Bays will see time at multiple positions including third base and catcher and may also play the outfield.

Also back for the Wasps are senior second baseman/designated player Martha Fluharty (Halifax, N.C.) and senior outfielder Cortney Halsey (Independence, Va.). Fluharty was .304 at the plate a year ago with six doubles, two home runs, seven walks and 23 RBI. Halsey, who hit .327 with five doubles, seven home runs 12 walks and 14 RBI, will move to left field this season after spending the past three years in centerfield. Sophomore first baseman Taylor Doss (Damascus, Va.) batted .287 with seven home runs and 20 RBI a year ago and will continue to anchor the right side of the diamond.

Returning in the circle for E&H are junior Brandy Bryant (Salem, Va.) and sophomore Taylor Banner (Castlewood, Va.). Bryant started 22 games in 2013 and posted a 5.14 ERA in 94 innings, striking out 54. Banner missed much of her freshman campaign due to an injury but will be counted on as one of the staffs' top arms in 2014.

Emory & Henry has 12 players who have joined the squad since last season which will help alleviate many of the depth issues experienced in 2013. Junior pitcher Roxanne Hillman (Clintwood, Va.) joins the Wasps after two seasons at Motlow College where she earned 20 wins with 257 innings pitched and 108 strikeouts with an ERA of 2.59.

Freshman Riley Pudney (Beech Mountain, N.C.) will provide the Wasps with a natural player at the shortstop position for the first time in several years. Freshman Jordan Chrisley (Pulaski, Va.) will take over the majority of the catching duties this year, sharing time with Bays behind the plate while freshman Devynne Stiltner (Meadowview, Va.) brings a slapper's bat to the top of the lineup and will take over in centerfield.

Virginia Wesleyan College took the top spot in the poll with 100 points, earning 10 first-place votes. Lynchburg College, Randolph-Macon College and Roanoke College tied for second with 79 points while Lynchburg took the final first-place vote. Shenandoah University (65) rounds out the top five.

Emory & Henry will open the season on Sunday, February 16 when it travels to Rocky Mount, N.C. for a doubleheader with North Carolina Wesleyan College. The Wasps will have their first home contests when they play host to the Knights of Southern Virginia University on Friday, February 28 at 2:00 p.m. E&H will open ODAC play on Sunday, March 16 at Randolph College at 1:00 p.m.

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2014 ODAC SOFTBALL
PRESEASON COACHES POLL

-photo courtesy of Kim Caudill, E&H '13