COLONIA, N.J. – The Spartans of St. Thomas Aquinas College were the top choice of the coaches in the 2026 East Coast Conference (ECC) Softball Preseason Coaches’ Poll released on Wednesday morning.

STAC – who won the regular season title last season – was first with 33 points and five first-place votes.

D’Youville University – who captured the 2025 ECC Championship during the double-elimination tournament – was second with 29 points and one first-place vote among the six coaches in the conference.

Mercy University was third with 24 points.

D’Youville netted two Preseason Players of the Year, as Annie Jorgenson was named as the Player of the Year, while pitcher Summer Clark shared Pitcher of the Year honors with Kennedie Ruth of the College of Staten Island.

Jorgenson, a sophomore, played in 41 games last season for the Saints, batting .344 with a team-best slugging percentage of .473. She had 45 hits, with 31 RBI, 22 runs scored, 11 doubles, 20 walks and two homeruns. In addition to being named first-team All-ECC, she was also named to the Second Team of the East Region by D2CCA.

Clark, a senior, made 18 appearances in the circle, starting five times. She held a 4-4 record with a 4.13 ERA in 76.1 innings pitched. She fanned 45 batters.

Ruth, a senior, led the team in ERA at 3.41 with a 7-8 mark. She threw eight complete games. In 86.1 innings, she struck out 70 and held opponents to a .260 batting average.

Molloy University was fourth in the poll with 20 points, followed by Queens College in fifth at 13 points and the College of Staten Island in sixth at seven points.

Action is slated to start on Saturday, February 14, as Molloy plays Wingate in a doubleheader in North Carolina. Three teams (D’Youville, Staten Island and Queens) are slated to play on Saturday, February 21.

Conference play is scheduled to start on Tuesday, March 24, as St. Thomas Aquinas travels to Mercy. The 2026 ECC Championship – featuring the top four teams – will start on Thursday, May 7. The double elimination tournament – hosted by the number one seed – ends with the championship series on Saturday, May 9.

2026 East Coast Conference Softball Preseason Coaches’ Poll
1. St. Thomas Aquinas College – 33 points (5 first-place votes)
2. D’Youville University – 29 points (1 first-place vote)
3. Mercy University – 24 points
4. Molloy University – 20 points
5. Queens College – 13 points
6. College of Staten Island – 7 points

Preseason Player of the Year: Annie Jorgenson, D’Youville
Co-Preseason Pitcher of the Year: Summer Clark, D’Youville; Kennedie Ruth, Staten Island