FULL RELEASE
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO.— The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) announced the 2019 Softball Preseason Awards.
The awards were voted on by the conference’s 13 head coaches. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own student-athletes.
PRESEASON COACHES POLL
In the coaches’ poll, the top two teams were only separated by three points and one first place vote but ultimately, Dixie State was selected to win the conference title with seven first place votes and 138 points. Dixie State is playing in its first season in the RMAC after they finished 42-10 last season including a trip to the NCAA West Super Regionals.
Colorado Mesa earned the other six first place votes and they finished second with 135 points. The Mavericks finished the 2018 campaign with a 48-5 record and a trip to the NCAA tournament after winning the RMAC tournament.
Colorado Christian was picked to finish third with 113 points while Regis (110 points) and MSU Denver (102 points) were picked to finish in the top five.
Preseason Coaches Poll (first-place votes)
1. Dixie State (7) - 138
2. Colorado Mesa (6) - 135
3. Colorado Christian - 113
4. Regis - 110
5. MSU Denver - 102
6. Colo. School of Mines - 93
7. UCCS - 75
8. CSU-Pueblo - 56
9. Adams State - 55
10. Black Hills State - 41
11. Fort Lewis - 40
12. Chadron State - 36
13. New Mexico Highlands - 17
PRESEASON PLAYERS OF THE YEAR/ALL-RMAC
Clara Larson of Colorado School of Mines was named the RMAC Preseason Player of the Year. Larson ended the 2018 season with NFCA First Team and D2CCA Second Team All-America honors. She had a record-setting sophomore season hitting .425 and slugging .839 with 15 home runs, 64 RBI's, 21 doubles and 59 runs scored. She became only the second Oredigger in history to slug over .800. The Castle Rock, Colorado native was also named First Team All-RMAC at shortstop, Google Cloud CoSIDA Second Team Academic All-America and First Team Academic All-District, NFCA First Team All-South Central, and D2CCA First Team All-South Central.
Kimbri Herring of Colorado Mesa was named the RMAC Preseason Pitcher of the Year. At the end of the 2018 campaign, Herring earned D2CCA First Team All-South-Central honors and was named Second Team All-RMAC. She was named RMAC Tournament Most Valuable Player after going 4-0 with 28 strikeouts in 21 innings. Her season performance guided the Mavericks to RMAC Regular Season and Tournament titles. Herring finished second in the RMAC for both wins (22-3) and ERA (2.25) and struck out 168 batters in 130 2/3 innings. She also led the RMAC in runs allowed (48), earned runs allowed (42) and walks allowed (27).
Ten of the 13 student-athletes on the 2019 Preseason All-RMAC team were also 2018 All-RMAC First and Second Team selections. Colorado Mesa and Colorado Christian had the most preseason picks with four student-athletes named to the preseason team.
Preseason All-RMAC
Michaela Burpee, C, CSU-Pueblo
Kimbri Herring, P, Colorado Mesa
Kenzie Mattey, P, Colorado Christian
Bailey Kleespie, DP, Colorado Mesa
AnnMarie Torres, 1B, Colorado Mesa
Charlotte Romero, 2B, Colorado Christian
Stephanie Day, 3B, Colorado Christian
Clara Larson, SS, Colorado School of Mines
Hanna Farmer, OF, Colorado Christian
Hailey Hinson, OF, Colorado Mesa
Brenna Cornwall, OF, Dixie State
Darby McGhee, UT, MSU Denver
Kara Jones, UT, Colorado School of Mines
The first softball games are scheduled for Feb. 1 with conference games scheduled to start Feb. 23. Click here to view the 2019 RMAC Softball Composite Schedule.