NORFOLK, Va. – The 2019 softball season begins this weekend, as all 12 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) schools get started this weekend. All 12 schools will begin their bet to claim that ultimate top prize of a MEAC Softball Championship.
 
Since the inception of the MEAC Softball Championship in 1993, there have been just five different schools to win a MEAC title. Florida A&M has accounted for 13 of the 26 titles and rival Bethune-Cookman has claimed nine – including last season’s.
 
A Northern Division team has not won a MEAC championship in softball since 2013, when former member Hampton won the title. Other than Hampton, only Howard and Delaware State are the other winners outside of Florida A&M and Bethune-Cookman.
 
Morgan State could be the team to change that trend. The Bears were picked to win the Northern Division by the league’s head coaches and sports information directors this season, and they have the Preseason Player of the Year in outfielder Damali Young. The Bears won the Northern Division last year with a 15-3 record, but fell just short of their first softball title, losing in the second round of the double-elimination tournament.
 
However, the Wildcats of Bethune-Cookman have the Preseason Pitcher of the Year in Alexis Bermudez, the 2018 MEAC Rookie of the Year, and are the reigning MEAC champions. They have two players on the preseason All-MEAC first team, but their rivals, the Rattlers of Florida A&M, were selected to win the Southern Division yet again.
 
FAMU and its Hall of Fame coach Veronica Wiggins can never be counted out. The Rattlers have five players selected to the preseason All-MEAC team, including junior pitcher Kyaira Brown, who won 16 games in 2018 and had a 3.07 ERA.
 
Every team, from Bethune-Cookman to South Carolina State, start out Friday with the same odds to win the 2019 MEAC Softball Championship later in the season – held May 8-11 in Ormond Beach, Fla.