NEW YORK --- (www.YORKATHLETICS.com) York College junior Samantha Panameno and sophomore Simranjit Kaur were featured by the conference on the 2026 CUNYAC Softball Preseason watch list, announced Tuesday by the league office. Panameno repeated as Player to Watch, while Kaur secured the pitcher designation. 

Playing in all 25 games for the Cardinals in 2025, Panameno recorded a trio of two-hit games and scored a team-high 13 runs. In a two-game sweep of Yeshiva University (Mar. 6), the Richmond Hill, New York, native generated four hits, seven runs, and five RBI. Panameno scored a career-high four runs in game one and knocked in a career-best three runs in the second leg. 

Pitching 16 innings across five games last season, Kaur registered three complete games in four starts in the circle.  As a product of Brooklyn, Kaur recorded nine strikeouts, including a pair of three-punchout performances against Lehman College (Apr. 14) and Sarah Lawrence College (Apr. 5).  

Coaches predict the Cardinals to finish sixth this upcoming campaign.

2026 CUNYAC Softball Preseason Coaches Poll

	Points (First-Place Votes)
1. John Jay College	23 (4)
2. Brooklyn College	20 (1)
3. Hunter College	17
4. Baruch College	16 (1)
5. Lehman College	9
6. York College	5

Defending champion John Jay College tops the preseason leaderboard with 23 points and four first-place nods. Brooklyn College and Baruch College collected the other two first-place votes, while the Cardinals accumulated five points. York's 10-game conference schedule commences with a home doubleheader against Baruch on April 1. 

The 2026 CUNYAC tournament is slated for May 7 (Day 1) and May 8 (Day 2), as the league champion receives an automatic qualifier to the NCAA Tournament.

The Cardinals are slated to open their campaign next Thursday (Mar. 5) with a non-conference home battle against Yeshiva starting at 1 p.m. from Padavan-Preller Fields. 

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