Softball Picked to Win Horizon League Title
2/4/2015 5:00:00 AM | Softball
The Wright State softball team has been picked to win the 2015 Horizon League title as the preseason poll was released Wednesday by the league office.? Voting was done by the eight head coaches in the league.
The Raiders, who finished second in the regular-season standings last season, received 40 points and one first-place vote, just ahead of 2014 regular-season and tournament champion Green Bay (38), who had three first-place votes.? Valparaiso was picked third with 37 points and received two first-place votes while Youngstown State, who also received two first-place votes, was fourth with 31 points.?
Cleveland State was chosen fifth, followed by UIC, Oakland and Detroit.
In addition to the preseason poll, College Sports Madness recently announced its preseason Horizon League teams, with three Raiders being selected.? Senior outfielder Jess Gorman was named to the First Team while senior catcher Kortney Tackett and senior outfielder Angie Clark were chosen to the Second Team.
Gorman (Hartville, OH/Marlington), a First Team All-League honoree in 2014, finished eighth in the league with a .349 batting average and was fourth in slugging percentage at .632.? She was first in triples (5) and being hit by pitch (10), tied for second in doubles (12), fourth in total bases (96), tied for fifth in runs scored (30), fifth in hits (53) and stolen bases (11) and was eighth in home runs (7).
Gorman also was named to the All-Tournament Team as she hit .545 (6 for 11) in three games with two runs scored.? She went one for three in the tournament opener against Valparaiso, a perfect four for four with two runs scored in a 6-5 win over Cleveland State and one for four versus UIC.
Tackett (Tipp City, OH/Tippecanoe) started all but two games behind the plate for the Raiders last season and threw out 12 would-be basestealers.? She also had 21 hits and drove in 12.
Clark (Huber Heights, OH/Wayne) tied for second on the team with three home runs in 2014 and was second with 23 runs scored.
Wright State kicks off the 2015 campaign at the Hillenbrand Invitational February 13-15 in Tucson, Arizona, with the Raiders facing host Arizona in the season opener on February 13 at 8:00 Eastern time.? The Wildcats, who have won eight national titles, are ranked #12 in the preseason ESPN.com/USA Softball poll and #14 in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches poll.? WSU will also take on San Jose State, Drake, Loyola Marymount and Loyola Chicago during the tournament.?
The home opener for the Raiders will be on Tuesday, March 17, as Wright State hosts Ohio in a doubleheader starting at 3:00.
The following is the 2015 Horizon League preseason poll and College Sports Madness preseason teams:
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HORIZON LEAGUE PRESEASON POLL
| Place | Team | 2014 Record | First-Place Votes | Points |
| 1. | Wright State | 19-32, 13-6 HL | 1 | 40 |
| 2. | Green Bay | 27-14, 11-5 HL | 3 | 38 |
| 3. | Valparaiso | 24-34, 11-8 HL | 2 | 37 |
| 4. | Youngstown State | 30-24, 11-8 HL | 2 | 31 |
| 5. | Cleveland State | 24-20, 8-8 HL | ? | 29 |
| 6. | UIC | 16-28, 8-10 HL | ? | 27 |
| 7. | Oakland | 16-23, 5-9 HL | ? | 15 |
| 8. | Detroit | 7-40, 3-16 HL | ? | 7 |
FIRST TEAM ALL-HORIZON LEAGUE
| Name | School | Yr. |
Pos. |
| Briana Cavin | Green Bay | Jr. | P |
| Christa McGahuey | Detroit | Jr. | P |
| Susan Knight | Cleveland State | Jr. | P |
| Erica McNew | Cleveland State | Jr. | C |
| Miranda Castiglione | Youngstown State | Jr. | IF |
| Cynthia Woodard | Cleveland State | Sr. | IF |
| Kayla Kostich | Detroit | Sr. | IF |
| Tarah McShane | Valparaiso | Sr. | IF |
| Kaitlyn Ranieri | Valparaiso | Jr. | OF |
| Jess Gorman | Wright State | Sr. | OF |
| Paige Peterson | UIC | Sr. | OF |
| Alyson Broschk | Cleveland State | Jr. | UT |
SECOND TEAM ALL-HORIZON LEAGUE
| Name | School | Yr. |
Pos. |
| Taylor Weissenhofer | Valparaiso | Jr. | P |
| Bridget Boyle | UIC | Jr. | P |
| Heather Sanderson | Green Bay | So. | P |
| Kortney Tackett | Wright State | Sr. | C |
| Jackie Kisman | Oakland | Sr. | IF |
| Hailey Mohrfeld | Green Bay | Sr. | IF |
| Sarah Hartley | Oakland | Jr. | IF |
| Laura Swan | UIC | Jr. | IF |
| Taylor Lawson | Valparaiso | So. | OF |
| Sarah Dowd | Youngstown State | So. | OF |
| Angie Clark |
Wright State | Sr. | OF |
Field Player of the Year: Kaitlyn Ranieri, Jr., OF, Valparaiso
Pitcher of the Year: Briana Cavin, Jr., Green Bay
Freshman of the Year: Allie Hislope, UT, Green Bay
Coach of the Year: Beth Spoehr, Green Bay
