Lions pegged 11th in SAC Preseason Poll

ROCK HILL, S.C. (TheSAC.com) – The Catawba College Indians have been picked as the 2020 South Atlantic Conference baseball preseason favorite for the eighth consecutive season, the league office announced today. The Catawba Indians received eight first place votes from the conference's head baseball coaches and 128 total points.

Newberry was voted in at No. 2 with 124 total points and four first place votes, while Lincoln Memorial earned the No. 3 spot with 111 points.

Wingate placed fourth in the poll with 98 points, followed by Tusculum at No. 5 with 95 points and Carson-Newman at No. 6 with 84 points.

Lenoir-Rhyne earned the No. 7 slot with 72 points, while Anderson earned 58 points in eighth and Coker placed ninth with 47 points. Rounding out the preseason poll were Queens at No. 10 with 44 points, Mars Hill at No. 11 with 37 points, and UVa-Wise at No. 12 with 26 points.

In addition to the preseason coaches' poll, the SAC announced its 2020 Preseason All-Conference teams. Newberry's Tomas Sorcia Jr. and Josh Bookbinder along with Catawba's Brian Ketchie were named first team starting pitchers. Newberry's Quinton Driggers was named the first team reliever and Lincoln Memorial's Nate Stinson was named to the first team as the designated hitter.

UVa-Wise backstop Tyler Blaum earned first team honors at catcher and Catawba's Hunter Shepherd was named first team first baseman. Daulton Martin of Tusculum was named first team at second base, with Lincoln Memorial's Tyler Adams earning first team honors at third base and Catawba's Jeremy Simpson was named the first team shortstop.

Rounding out the first team selections are Carson-Newman's Jordan Griffin and Tyler Thompson, along with Wingate's Jed Bryant in the outfield.

First pitch for the 2020 season will take place on Friday, January 31. For a full schedule of games visit www.thesac.com.

2020 SAC Baseball Preseason Coaches' Poll

2020 SAC Baseball Preseason All-Conference

All-SAC First Team

OF – Jordan Griffin, Carson-Newman
OF – Tyler Thompson, Carson-Newman
OF – Jed Bryant, Wingate
1B – Hunter Shepherd, Catawba
2B – Daulton Martin, Tusculum
SS – Jeremy Simpson, Catawba
3B – Tyler Adams, Lincoln Memorial
C – Tyler Blaum, UVa-Wise
DH – Nate Stinson, Lincoln Memorial
SP – Bryan Ketchie, Catawba
SP – Tomas Sorcia, Jr., Newberry
SP – Josh Bookbinder, Newberry
RP – Quinton Driggers, Newberry 

All-SAC Second Team

OF – Zane Tarrance, Newberry
OF – E.J. Ranel, Lenoir-Rhyne
OF – Nick Butler, Newberry
1B – Noah Jones, Queens
2B – Dalton Lansdowne, Newberry
SS – Colin Allman, Newberry
3B – Jackson Raper, Catawba
C – Dalton Dedas, Lincoln Memorial
DH – Michael Wroth, Carson-Newman
SP – Greg Duncan, UVa-Wise
SP – Alex Shirazi, Lenoir-Rhyne
SP – Sawyer Strickland, Catawba
RP – Hunter Dula, Wingate