January 28, 2010

RedStorm softball picked to finish 6^th in MSC

Louisville, Ky. --- The University of Rio Grande RedStorm softball team was picked to finish 6^th in the Mid-South Conference pre-season coaches' poll.

Rio Grande received 21 points in the voting.

The RedStorm finished the 2009 season with a 21-15 overall record and went 14-6 in the American Mideast Conference, which was good enough for third place. 

Rio Grande head coach David Pyles thinks the 6^th place prediction is fair based on the unfamiliarity that Rio has with the rest of the teams in the league. "There is a lot of unknown really on both ends," Pyles said. "I turned my poll in not really knowing much about those teams, just going on last year's results and I'm sure those teams did the same thing."

"We got mixed where we got mixed and that's fine," Pyles added. "It's a pre-season poll, we're worried about the ending poll."

Despite the prediction, Pyles believes his team can come and compete in year one in the MSC. "In all honesty I think we can come in and immediately compete for the conference title," he said. "I'm always a very optimistic coach, I have been over the years and sometimes that optimism has worked out and sometimes it hasn't, but I think we can come in and compete." 

Campbellsville University and Georgetown College are the co-favorites in the Mid-South according to the conference coaches.

Campbellsville and Georgetown each received 46 points from the conference coaches with each program receiving four first place votes. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team.

The two programs shared the MSC hardware last season as the Campbellsville won the regular season title while Georgetown captured the tournament title.

Lindsey Wilson College is projected to finish third in the conference as the Blue Raiders received 36 points.

St. Catharine College (27 points) and University of the Cumberlands (23) are fourth and fifth respectively in the coaches' poll.

Pikeville College (18) and WVU Tech (7) complete the preseason poll.

The Mid-South Conference regular season begins in early March with the MSC Tournament scheduled for April 30 - May 2 in Danville, Ky.