CHARLOTTE, NC - The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) releases its 2019 Softball Championship Bracket. The double-elimination tournament will be held Monday, April 29th - Wednesday, May 1st at the James I. Moyer Sports Complex in Salem, VA. The championship round will begin at 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 1st and, if needed, the second game will take place at 3:30 p.m.
The no. 1 seed in the South will be Claflin University. In their inaugural season in the CIAA, the Lady Panthers finished the regular season with a perfect 18-0 record in conference to win the Southern Division regular season title. They will take on Virginia Union University, the no. 4 seed in the North, at 12 noon on Monday (Field #1). Monday's other noon game (Field #3) will feature the North's no. 2 seed Virginia State University taking on the South's No. 3 seed Johnson C. Smith University.
The top seed in the Northern Division will be 2-time defending CIAA champion Chowan University. The Hawks finished the regular season atop the CIAA Northern Division with a 15-2 record (10-0 in the division). They will begin the opening round by taking on the Fayetteville State University, the no. 4 seed in the South, at 2:30 p.m. (Field #1). Also playing at 2:30 p.m. (Field #3) will be the South's no. 2 seed Winston-Salem State University against the no. 3 seed in the North Elizabeth City State University.
Coming into the season, Chowan was predicted to three-peat as champions by league coaches.They will be challenged by newcomer Claflin (preseason #2 in the CIAA), who finished with the conference's best record during the regular season, and Winston-Salem State, who exceeded preseason expectations by finishing second in the Southern Division and third overall in the CIAA after being predicted to finish eighth by coaches. The Lady Panthers and Rams handed the Hawks their only two losses in the CIAA regular season, breaking their 30-game conference win streak during the CIAA Round-Up.
All games during this year's softball championship will be streamed live on the CIAA Sports Network (
https://theciaasn.com/). Each game will also feature live stats throughout the championship.
A complete look at the softball championship bracket can be viewed
HERE. For all information pertaining to the 2019 CIAA Softball Championship, please visit
HERE.
For the latest information on the CIAA and all of its sponsored championships, please visit
https://theciaa.com/index.aspx.