Cobras to hit 2018 hard
The Coker College softball team was tabbed as the No. 3 team in the South Atlantic Conference preseason poll, the SAC office released today. The Cobras open up the 2018 season at home Feb. 3 against the Warriors of Southern Wesleyan. The Navy and Gold head into the season under the tutelage of fourth year Head Coach Travis McCall.
Looking Back
The Cobras finished the 2016-17 season with 41 wins, which was the team’s first 40-win season since 2002. The Navy and Gold earned a SAC tournament berth as a No. 4 seed and finished as the runner-up to Carson-Newman. Six players (Mindy North, Maria Williamson, Cacey Simmons, Kelsi Bachmann, Hannah Price, and Taylor Forehand) earned regular season All-Conference honors, with all returning this season. Two players earned All-Tournament team distinction, including Simmons. Coker had a player named to the Division II Collegiate Commissioners Association All-Southeast Region First Team and D2CCA All-American Second Team. The team placed ten members on the Easton/National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-America Scholar-Athlete Team for the 2017 season, including returners Rebekah Addison, Katelyn Chambers, Forehand, Anna Gluhosky, Hannah Goodman, Simmons, and Williamson.
At one point during the season, the Cobras were regionally ranked tenth by Down South Softball. In the final 2017 NCAA Southeast Regional ranking, Coker was tabbed tenth.
Home Cooking
The Navy and Gold dominated within the friendly confines of the Saleeby-Stokes Softball Field in 2017, going 19-7, batting .316 and outscoring opponents 163-64.
2018 Schedule
A 55-game schedule is in front of the Cobras, highlighted by games against six teams ranked in the top ten in the final regional poll of 2017 and 20 games against South Atlantic Conference opponents. The Navy and Gold will also host two tournaments in back-to-back weekends in February. The first weekend in March, Coker will travel to the North Georgia Tournament. There will be a Pink Game March 24 against SAC opponent Tusculum for breast cancer awareness. Senior Day happens on April 14 versus conference foe Mars Hill.
The 2018 Cobras will debut on February 3 when they host Southern Wesleyan University at 1 p.m.
