SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Endicott College, the 2013 runner-up, has been voted as the favorite to win the 2014 Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) softball championship after receiving six first place votes for a total of 93 points in the CCC preseason coaches' poll. Roger Williams University, the 2013 champion, was selected second after earning three first-place votes and a total of 92 points. Western New England University claimed third with 79 points, while the University of New England placed fourth after receiving 65 points to round out the top billing.

Voting for the preseason poll was conducted among the league's head softball coaches.

The top two teams in the 2014 preseason poll faced off for the CCC title a season ago. The Hawks were victorious over the Gulls after RWU was able to break a 3-3 tie in the top of the seventh by scoring three runs and then holding EC scoreless in the bottom of the frame for a 6-3 championship victory. The 2013 title marked Roger Williams' first conference championship since 2002.

The Hawks participated in the NCAA Division III Softball Tournament in 2013, as Roger Williams earned the CCC's automatic bid into the tournament. To start the tournament, Virginia Wesleyan earned a 2-0 win over RWU, but the Hawks rebounded quickly with their first NCAA victory in program history with a 2-1 win over Farmingdale. Unfortunately, Roger Williams saw its NCAA run come to a close as the Hawks lost to DeSales, 1-0.

All ten CCC softball teams will start their quest for the 2014 conference title within the next two weeks. The top eight teams in the regular-season conference standings will qualify for the conference tournament, which gets underway Saturday, April 26 with a one-game play-in round between the fifth and eighth seed and the sixth and seventh seed, with the winners advancing to the six-team double elimination phase. The top four seeds will automatically be placed in the six-team double elimination phase of the tournament, which begins on Monday, April 28 and will continue through Saturday, May 3.

Wentworth Institute of Technology (6-27, 0-18 CCC) first-year head coach Caitlin Luquet has seven players returning from a season ago, including the team's top three hitters. Leading the way is Liz Glavin who recorded a .382 batting average, a .455 on-base percentage, and a .750 slugging percentage in 2013. Glavin hit four doubles, seven home runs, scored 16 runs, and drove in 30 RBI. Karsyn Sawyer hit .259 with a team-high eight stolen bases, while Sam Curran hit .253 with four doubles, two triples, one home run, seven stolen bases, 18 runs scored, and 10 RBI.

2014 CCC Softball Preseason Coaches' Poll