Rounding Third Softball

Phoenix College has been voted No. 1 in the NJCAA DII Preseason Rankings. The back-to-back and defending national champion Bears received all 12 first-place votes. PC will be going for their 11th national title in 2023.

1. Phoenix (12)

2. Murray State

3. Des Moines Area

4. Kirkwood

5. Jones

6. Danville Area

7. Copiah-Lincoln

8. Northwest Mississippi

9. LSU-Eunice

10. Kansas City Kansas

11. Louisburg

12. Delaware Tech

13. Jackson

14. Triton

15. Cowley

16. Illinois Central

17. Parkland

18. Lansing

19. Rock Valley

20. WVU Potomac State

Back-to-back defending National Champion Florida Southwestern has topped the NJCAA DI Preseason Rankings. FSW received all eight first-place votes in the poll. The Buccaneers have gone a combined 105-10 over the past two championship seasons.

1. Florida SouthWestern (

2. McLennan

3. Odessa

4. Seminole State (OK)

5. Wallace State-Hanceville

6. Chattanooga State

7. Butler

8. Grayson

9. Central Arizona

10. Southern Idaho

11. Pensacola State

12. Central Florida

13. Indian Hils

14. Chipola

15. Yavapai

16. Paris

17. Hutchinson

18. Lake Land

19. Eastern Arizona

20. San Jacinto

Tina Whitlock will join Class-A affiliate Peoria the St. Louis Cardinals have announced. Whitlock has worked in the Cardinals organization the last several years in a variety of roles. Most recently she served as a tech fellow at the Cardinals Jupiter, Florida Complex. She will now act as the fourth coach for the Minor League Chiefs. Whitlock (maiden name Plew) was an All-American at South Carolina where she helped lead the Gamecocks to the 1997 Women’s College World Series. Whitlock worked in the sport of softball before crossing over to baseball. She served a stint as the pitching coach for the British National Team. She also had collegiate coaching stops at Furman, LeMoyne, Lander, Mercer, Chattanooga, and USC Upstate.

Sul Ross State will be making the transition from Division III to Division II for the 2024-25 sports season. The institute located in the small West Texas town of Alpine is currently a member of the American Southwest Conference. The Lobos are expected to join DII’s mega-conference, the Lone Star, once the move is made. The Sul Ross Softball program went 23-19 and 15-15 in conference play last season.

Legendary Women’s Major Coach John Stratton will be inducted into the National Softball Hall of Fame this October USA Softball has announced. The Coach of the famous Raybestos Brakettes of Stratford, CT has been part of the squads coaching staff for over 40 years. During that time the Brakettes have won over 2,300 games good for a .917 winning percentage. The team also compiled 16 national championship titles along the way. Stratton coached many legends of the sport including Joan Joyce, Sue Enquist, Dot Richardson, Barbara Reinalda, Kathy Arendsen and a slew of other greats of the game.

USA Softball has announced that Olympian Valerie Arioto will be enshrined in the National Softball Hall of Fame this October. The former Cal Bear starred 11 seasons for Team USA leading the squad to 13 medals including four World Cup gold medals, three Pan American Games gold medals and two World Championship gold medals. She capped her career with an Olympic silver medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Robert Wakefield has announced the 2023 season will be his last as head coach at Mid-America Christian University. He will retire after a 45-year coaching career, the last 12 leading the Evangels. Wakefield heads into his final season with a 284-276 record at MACU. He posted six 30-plus win seasons in his tenure with a high mark coming in 2021 when the program won the NCCAA National Championship.

Presentation College an NAIA Institute located in Aberdeen, SD has announced it will cease operation at the end of this academic year due to financial and sustainability challenges. This will include the schools athletic department which sponsors eight sports. The softball program will compete in the 2023 season under first-year Coach Erin Skinner before folding. The Saints finished the 2022 season 12-30.

RTS has learned that Christine Core will join the coaching staff at Texas A&M-Commerce ahead of the 2023 season. Core has been a head coach at both Lincoln University and Covenant College. She had joined the staff at Virginia last fall as Director of Operations. TAMUC will be playing their first season of DI as a member of the Southland Conference after transitioning from DII.

RTS is saddened to report the passing of Snow College Sophomore Paige Rydalch. The Stockton, Utah native died Monday after a two car-crash traveling on State Route 132. Rydalch played infield for the Badgers and was a consistent offensive contributor hitting .342 in the 2022 season. Snow College Softball will dedicate this season to Rydalch in honor of the way she lived her life on and off the field the team announced.