AUGUSTA — The No. 2 University of North Georgia softball team was picked to win the Peach Belt Conference, the league office announced Wednesday in the softball preseason coaches poll. Additionally, seniors Kaylyn Anthony and Kylee Smith were honorees on the Preseason All-Conference Team.
The Nighthawks were named as the No. 2 team in the nation Wednesday in the NFCA Preseason Top 25, up one spot from their 2020 finish. Southern Arkansas was named the unanimous No. 1 team in the poll.
North Georgia is the preseason favorite for the sixth straight year and for the 11th time since 2009. UNG received nine first-place votes and 99 total points. Young Harris was second in the poll with a pair of first-place votes while Columbus State was third and Flagler fourth. Francis Marion was fifth, one point ahead of Georgia Southwestern in sixth with Lander and Georgia College tied for seventh. UNC Pembroke, USC Aiken and Augusta rounded out the voting.
North Georgia was 23-4 and ranked No. 3 in the nation when the 2020 season came to an abrupt halt. The Nighthawks are the six-time defending PBC regular-season and tournament champions. The 2021 squad will present an interesting mix of returners and newcomers as senior pitcher Kylee Smith, senior catcher Shelby Hammontree and senior outfielder Kaylyn Anthony all return for a fifth season of competition. UNG lists 14 freshmen on the roster for 2021, 10 of whom played on the team last season.
A fifth-year senior from Hoschton, Georgia, Anthony is a three-time All-Conference selection, including second-team honors in 2019. She was also named NFCA All-Region in 2018 and a PBC Player of the Week in 2020. Anthony hit .340 in 27 games last season, leading the PBC in at-bats and ranked fifth in hits, tied for third in doubles (8) and tied for eighth in RBI (20). She had 11 multi-hit games last season and 10 games with at least one extra base hit, finishing second on the team in slugging percentage.
A fifth-year senior from Suwanee, Georgia, Smith is a six-time All-American including five first-team selections, the 2018 & 2019 D2CCA National Pitcher of the Year, 2018 NFCA National Player of the Year and a two-time PBC Pitcher of the Year. In the Peach Belt career record books, she ranks fourth in strikeouts, eighth in innings pitched, third in wins and fith in saves. Last season, she went 12-2 in 2020 with a 0.30 ERA and led the PBC in ERA and strikeouts with 153.
The Nighthawks open the season at Montevallo on February 7.
