Kansas City, Mo. - After a record breaking season, the Central Methodist Softball team finished at No. 12 in the NAIA Softball Coaches' Top-25 Postseason poll, as announced by the national office Wednesday morning.
Grand View finished at No. 11 in the final poll and Mount Mercy landed at No. 24 after winning the Heart Conference Tournament and advancing to the Final Site for the first time in program history.
Central climbed as high as No. 4 in the national rankings, breaking the school record in wins (50) and earned run average (1.63). The Eagles finished second in the conference regular season standings and clinched an at-large berth into the national championship for the first time since 2018.
CMU recieved several individual accolades as Kelli Gorman was named the Heart Player of the Year, Keighlan Cronin Heart Co-Pitcher of the Year and Micaela Harcrow Heart Freshman of the Year.
Gorman, Cronin, Harcrow and Madison Love were tabbed as NFCA NAIA All-Region V selections, and Gorman and Cronin were each recognized as NAIA All-Americans.
To view the complete poll, please see below.
2021 NAIA Softball Coaches' Top 25 - Postseason (June 6, 2021)
| RANK | PREVIOUS POLL | SCHOOL [1ST PLACE VOTES] | RECORD | FINAL POINTS |
| 1 | 1 | Southern Oregon [15] | 55-6 | 405 |
| 2 | 17 | Oregon Tech | 48-10 | 392 |
| 3 | 15 | College of Idaho | 44-19 | 374 |
| 4 | 20 | Ottawa (Kan.) | 45-7 | 337 |
| 5 | 12 | Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) | 35-8 | 318 |
| 6 | 5 | Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) | 39-11 | 308 |
| 7 | 7 | Columbia (Mo.) | 35-7 | 307 |
| 8 | 2 | Oklahoma City | 44-6 | 299 |
| 9 | 3 | Science & Arts (Okla.) | 49-8 | 281 |
| 10 | 6 | Indiana Wesleyan | 44-9 | 275 |
| 11 | 22 | Grand View (Iowa) | 43-14 | 270 |
| 12 | 4 | Central Methodist (Mo.) | 50-9 | 230 |
| 13 | NR | Madonna (Mich.) | 34-11 | 215 |
| 14 | 8 | Georgia Gwinnett | 33-13 | 209 |
| 15 | 14 | Saint Xavier (Ill.) | 35-4 | 205 |
| 16 | 16 | Campbellsville (Ky.) | 41-13 | 204 |
| 17 | NR | Bethany (Kan.) | 32-29 | 201 |
| 18 | NR | Milligan (Tenn.) | 32-9 | 188 |
| 19 | 11 | Hope International (Calif.) | 30-11 | 185 |
| 19 | NR | Houston-Victoria (Texas) | 23-23 | 185 |
| 21 | 10 | William Carey (Miss.) | 39-11 | 174 |
| 22 | 9 | Marian (Ind.) | 45-15 | 166 |
| 23 | 25 | Midland (Neb.) | 39-10 | 141 |
| 24 | NR | Mount Mercy (Iowa) | 38-17 | 133 |
| 25 | 18 | Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) | 41-13 | 105 |
Receiving Votes: Morningside (Iowa) 86, Central Baptist (Ark.) 85, Reinhardt (Ga.) 56, Rio Grande (Ohio) 50, Coastal Georgia 35, Indiana Southeast 12, Truett McConnell (Ga.) 11, Dickinson State (N.D.) 9, Cumberlands (Ky.) 4, Corban (Ore.) 3
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