Softball Picked to Finish Fourth in South in GNAC Preseason Poll
WINTHROP, Mass. – The Mitchell College softball team was selected to finish in fourth place in the South Division in the 2025 GNAC Preseason Coaches' Poll, as announced by the conference on Friday afternoon. Voting was conducted last week by the league's 15 softball head coaches.
The Mariners, who finished with 77 points in the South Division polling, received one first place vote, and are coming off a season in which they posted a 12-7 mark in GNAC play during their inaugural year in the conference. After posting a 16-18 overall record and going 11-3 in the South Division of the conference, the Mariners earned the two-seed in the South, yet postseason losses to Johnson & Wales University and New England College ended their season.
Taking the second spot in the South Division was top-division finisher Lasell, who finished 12-2 in conference play, as they look to bounce back from a Pod Finals exit. Albertus Magnus comes in third in this year's voting with 93 points and two first-place votes. After Mitchell, the University of Saint Joseph (Conn.) collected 67 points to round out the top five slots. Regis (47), Dean (26), and Elms (23) closed out the South Division in that order.
"I am excited to start the season for my first year at Mitchell," said first-year head coach, Kaitlin Thibodeau-Corey '21. "We have a large group of returning players and a handful of very talented new members that will make will make an impact this season."
Despite the loss of five seniors to graduation, the Mariners return nine players from last year's squad, including three players who landed on either the GNAC All-Conference Second or Third Team in 2024. Among those returners is senior catcher Brooke Whitmarsh (Portsmouth, R.I.), a Third Team selection who batted .340 with 18 RBI and 15 runs scored, along with sophomore utility player Madison Cole (Westbrook, ME), who slashed .280/.333/.373, en route to All-Conference Second Team honors and a spot on the All-Rookie Team.
Senior shortstop Gemma Landry (Lewiston, ME) will play a major role as well, as she looks to conclude what has been a historic career in New London. Landry enters the spring as the program's all-time leader in hits (153), while sporting a career batting average of .376. Anchoring the starting rotation is senior right-handed pitcher Emily Reynolds (Somers, Conn.), who has made 58 career starts in a Mitchell uniform and owns a career ERA of 3.49 with 134 strikeouts.
In the North, Simmons earned the top spot with 96 points and nine first-place votes. 2024 GNAC runner-up Saint Joseph's (ME) ranked second in this year's voting with the Monks collecting 90 points and five-place votes, followed by Emmanuel, who placed third with 83 points while collecting a first-place vote of their own. Both squads also received two first place votes. Rivier and New England College rounded out the top five in the North Division with 57 and 45 points, respectively. Closing out the North Division were Anna Maria (26 points) and Norwich (23) in that order.
The Mariners are scheduled to open their season in South Carolina at the Fastpitch Dreams Spring Classic, where they will face New Jersey City University and Kenyon College in an opening day doubleheader on Sunday, March 9. GNAC play begins on Saturday, March 29, with a pair of home games against Saint Joseph's College (ME).
The top five teams in each division at the end of the regular season will qualify for the 2025 GNAC Softball Championship Tournament, which will begin with a single-elimination Play-In round featuring the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds in each division on Tuesday, April 29. Following the Play-In games, the teams will be split into two, four-team double-elimination pods. Pod Play will take place from Thursday, May 1, to Sunday, May 4, with the winners of each team advancing to a best-of-three GNAC Championship Series.
The Championship Series is scheduled for Friday-Saturday, May 9-10, with the winner earning the title of 2025 GNAC Softball Champion and the league's automatic qualifier into the 2025 NCAA Division III Softball Championship.
