The Pitt-Bradford softball team was picked eighth in the AMCC preseason coaches' poll, which was released Wednesday.

Penn State Behrend was tabbed to repeat as conference champs, followed by Penn State Altoona and D'Youville. Those three teams all finished league play last year with identical 15-3 records. Mt. Aloysius and La Roche rounded out the top five, and Medaille and Pitt-Greensburg were predicted to finish just in front of the Panthers.

Pitt-Bradford looks to return to the postseason in 2017 after missing the AMCC tournament the last two years.

The Blue and Gold will be led by the trio of junior Cassidy Lewis and sophomores Liz Dzurisin and Nicole Nolte. Lewis, just one of two upperclassmen on the team, is the top returning pitcher, and Dzurisin and Nolte were among the Panthers' best hitters in 2016.

Pitt-Bradford officially opens the season next Monday in Ft. Myers, Florida, against Swarthmore and Kenyon.