LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The National Fastpitch Coaches Association has released its preseason top 25 coaches poll ahead of the spring season, and Randolph-Macon has been ranked 7th to start the season. 

The Yellow Jackets look to build on arguably their best season in program history, finishing the 2025 season as a National Semifinalist. The program has made the postseason each of the last seven seasons (not including the 2020 and 2021 covid seasons). In that span, Randolph-Macon has made two world series appearances and four super regionals.

Last season, RMC finished with a record of 42-14 and 16-6 in ODAC play. Returning a slew of key players from last year's team, they look for similar success. The Yellow Jackets see four all-conference players from last season return to the lineup in Tori Powell (Freeman, Va./Mecklenburg County), Reagan Hill (Hanover, Va./Hanover), Charlotte Boswell (Glen Allen, Va./ Deep Run) and Courtney Guthrie (Lancaster, Pa./Hempfield). 

The Yellow Jackets have put together a tough schedule for the 2026 campaign. The 40-game regular season schedule will see RMC take on three preseason ranked teams. Randolph-Macon will matchup with #18 Salisbury on the first day of the Margie Knight Softball Classic in Salisbury, Maryland in the second week of March. The Sea Gulls appeared in the Glassboro Super Regional last season. Randolph-Macon will head to #10 Christopher Newport at the end of march to take on the Captains. CNU fell to the Lemon and Black in the Newport News Regional last season. The final preseason ranked opponent will matchup the Yellow Jackets with a familiar face in #2 Virginia Wesleyan at the beginning of April. The two teams played each other seven different times last season, including a matchup in the national semifinal game in Bloomington, Illinois. The Marlins ultimately finished the season as the national runner-up, as they were defeated by national champion Trine.      

Randolph-Macon is one of two ODAC schools to appear in the top ten of the poll, joining Virginia Wesleyan who came in at number two in the rankings. The Yellow Jackets sit three spots behind of their final ranking (#4) to conclude last season.

The Yellow Jackets will begin their season on February 21st, as they welcome in Mary Washington for a doubleheader, beginning at 12 p.m.