The Midwest Conference released its 2022 Softball Preseason Coaches Poll on Thursday and the Foresters were second in the rankings.
Voting for the league's preseason poll is done by the MWC head softball coaches. Each coach votes for the other eight schools in the conference 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.
Defending league champion Illinois College was first in the poll with 63 points and the Lady Blues received seven of nine first place votes. The other two went to Lake Forest, who finished with 58 points, nine more than third-place Cornell College.
Under the direction of 16th-year head coach Joe Kinsella, Lake Forest will open the season indoors on March 3 with a doubleheader against Concordia University Chicago at The Ballpark at Rosemont. The Foresters will also compete in The Spring Games near Orlando, Florida, during Spring Break March 7-12. The team is also scheduled to play six non-conference doubleheaders and eight against league foes, the first at Beloit College on Saturday, March 26. The regular season finale is set for Sunday, May 1.
The first-place team in the regular season standings will earn the conference title and the right to host the four-team MWC Tournament, which will be played May 6-7. The tournament champion will receive the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament, which will begin on May 12.
The Foresters won back-to-back MWC titles in 2018 and 2019 and their 12 championships overall are more than any other active member of the league. The team has qualified for each of the last 21 MWC Tournaments, a streak that began in 2000.
| PLACE | TEAM (FIRST PLACE VOTES) | POINTS |
| 1 | Illinois College (7) | 63 |
| 2 | Lake Forest College (2) | 58 |
| 3 | Cornell College | 49 |
| 4 | Grinnell College | 36 |
| 5 | Beloit College | 33 |
| 6 | Lawrence University | 29 |
| 7 | Monmouth College | 28 |
| 8 | Ripon College | 17 |
| 9 | Knox College | 11 |
