Moon Township, Pa. – According to a poll of Horizon League head coaches, the RMU softball team has been picked to finish fourth in the league in 2022.
Tabbed as the preseason favorite is Oakland, which earned a pair of first-place votes and accumulated 82 points. The Golden Grizzlies finished with one more point than Youngstown State, which earned five first-place tallies and compiled 81 points. UIC, which earned the final two first-place votes and tallied 74 points, was slated third.
The Colonials (62) are followed in the #HLSB Preseason Poll by Green Bay (49), Northern Kentucky (37), IUPUI (32), Detroit Mercy (29), Cleveland State (25) and Purdue Fort Wayne (22).
Led by fourth-year head coach
Jexx Varner, the Colonials return seven starters from a 2021 squad that posted an overall record of 25-19 (.568), including a mark of 20-14 (.588) in their first year as a member of the Horizon League. RMU qualified for the 2021 #HLSB Tournament as the No. 4 seed.
Included among RMU's starters from last year are outfielder
Alaina York, catcher
Erika Bell and shortstop
Charlotte Grover. York was one of just two Colonials to start each of RMU's 44 games a year ago, hitting .294 (35-for-119) while ranking third on the squad in runs (22) and doubles (6). Bell hit .304 (35-for-116) on the season with three home runs and 19 RBI, while Grover
earned a spot on the 2021 #HLSB All-Freshman Team after finishing second for the Colonials in RBI (22) and compiling 18 runs, five doubles and four home runs.
RMU also returns three of its four pitchers from 2021, including senior
Dana Vatakis, who posted a record of 10-6 (.625) from the circle while striking out 90. She notched 10 complete games and a pair of shutouts, including a
4-0 win over preseason favorite Oakland (3/27/21) in which she scattered six hits and allowed RMU to take three out of four from the Golden Grizzlies at the North Athletic Complex.
Also returning in the circle for the Colonials is junior
Rachael Rhinehart, who finished 9-3 (.750) a year ago with a save, striking out 49 in 54 innings pitched. She also held hitters to a .227 batting average. Rhinehart will be joined in the circle this year by her older sister,
Taylor Rhinehart, a transfer from Siena who will have one year of eligibility with Colonials. Last year for the Saints,
Taylor Rhinehart served as team captain and paced Siena with a 2.13 earned run average (ERA) with four saves.
The Colonials open their 2022 season Friday, Feb. 11, with a doubleheader in Greensboro, N.C., against North Carolina A&T. First pitch is at 11:00 a.m., and both games can be seen live on ESPNU. It marks the first of three games against the Aggies as part of the North Carolina A&T / Howard Round Robin at the Aggie Softball Complex.
2022 #HLSB Preseason Poll
| Team (First-Place Votes) |
Points |
| 1. Oakland (2) |
82 |
| 2. Youngstown State (5) |
81 |
| 3. UIC (2) |
74 |
| 4. RMU |
62 |
| 5. Green Bay |
49 |
| 6. Northern Kentucky |
39 |
| 7. IUPUI |
32 |
| 8. Detroit Mercy |
29 |
| 9. Cleveland State |
25 |
| 10. Purdue Fort Wayne |
22 |
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