The Midwest Conference released its 2026 Softball Preseason Coaches Poll on Friday and Lake Forest College was atop the rankings.
Voting is done by the MWC head softball coaches. Each coach votes for the other eight schools in the league in order of predicted finish. Points are assigned in reverse order of voting (eight points for first, seven for second, etc.). Coaches may not vote for their own teams.
Lake Forest received six of the nine first-place votes and tallied 62 points. Illinois College was next with the other three first-place votes and 58 points while Grinnell College ranked third with 46. Lawrence University rounded out the top four with 40 points.
The Foresters went 28-16-1 overall in 2025 and, with a 14-2 record in league play, repeated as MWC champions and captured their eighth title in the last 11 full seasons and league record 14th in program history. Emmie Nyen was named MWC Position Players of the Year and was one of seven players on the team, including six who are back this spring, to earn First or Second Team All-MWC accolades. Nyen (First Team), Kaia Mismash (Second Team), and Riley Stiles (Third Team) were also named All-Region IX by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.
Joe Kinsella's 20th season as Lake Forest's head coach will officially open on March 8 with the first of the team's 10 contests at The Spring Games in Florida. The Foresters are slated to begin their MWC title defense at Monmouth College on April 3 and their first home doubleheader of the year is scheduled for April 7 against Illinois Wesleyan University. The regular season finale is on May 2 and the top four teams in the conference will qualify for the MWC Tournament, which will be hosted by the league champion May 8-9.
Lake Forest has qualified for every MWC Tournament since 2000, hosted the event in 13 of those seasons, and won it 10 times.
| PLACE |
TEAM (First Place Votes) |
POINTS |
| 1 |
Lake Forest College (6) |
62 |
| 2 |
Illinois College (3) |
58 |
| 3 |
Grinnell College |
46 |
| 4 |
Lawrence University |
40 |
| 5 |
Cornell College |
38 |
| 6 |
Ripon College |
30 |
| 7t |
Beloit College
Monmouth College |
21 |
| 9 |
Knox College |
8 |
