INDIANAPOLIS – Kentucky Wesleyan and Malone were selected as divisional favorites as the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Baseball Preseason Coaches Poll presented by Under Armour was released on Friday.
Twelve teams will be competing for the league’s sixth championship trophy at Prasco Park in Mason, Ohio, this spring. The regular-season standings will be broken down between the North Division and South Division as eight teams will qualify for the postseason.
The top eight teams based on overall record will earn a berth to the Great Midwest Championship scheduled for May 9-12. This will be the fifth consecutive year for the conference tourney conducted at Prasco Park.
A North Division and South Division pitcher and player of the week will also be selected throughout the regular season.
Defending conference champion and NCAA Midwest Region qualifier Kentucky Wesleyan will start the spring with the target on its back as the top pick in the South Division. The Panthers had a storybook ending to the 2017 G-MAC Championship with Nathan Stemle’s 10th inning slide that goes down arguably as one of the greatest moments in conference history.
KWC then proceeded to earn two wins in regional competition at Northwood by beating Bellarmine and Saint Joseph’s as the No. 8 seed in the Midwest bracket. KWC was 29-24 last season and while the Panthers have some considerable names to replace, players like Andrew Kirkland, Cody Bridges, Alex Franzen, Ryan Hundley, Joseph Burke and others, have head coach Todd Lillpop in prime position for a repeat run.
Kentucky Wesleyan earned eight total first-place votes in the coaches balloting. Polled at second place in the South Division with four first-place votes is three-time conference champion Trevecca. The Trojans clinched the top seed in last year’s conference tournament with a 12-4 mark in the league schedule and knocked loudly on the door of the conference championship series final with a 1-0 final that ultimately ended their postseason run.
2016 G-MAC champion Alderson Broaddus was picked third while 2017 G-MAC Coach of the Year Chad Porter will start the new year with Ohio Valley selected fourth. The South Division voting rounded out with Cedarville and Davis & Elkins in fifth and sixth, respectively.
The North Division features all five of the first-year member institutions to the league with Findlay, Hillsdale, Lake Erie, Ohio Dominican and Walsh. They will all be chasing Malone, last year’s conference runner-up, as the divisional preseason favorite.
The Pioneers received the most first-place votes out of any team with nine (matched Kentucky Wesleyan’s point total with 58) and head coach Tom Crank’s program returns the reigning batting champion Matt Noel (.415) and familiar faces from a rotation and bullpen that destroyed the single-season conference record for team ERA (3.32). Reigning G-MAC Freshman of the Year Nate Cobb sets the table for a proficient offense with MU also leading the league in hitting. Joshua Hurford and Roscoe Blackburn could be the ace of just about any program in the country with sub-1.50 ERA’s.
With five new schools in the North Division, teams will be looking to adjust their scouting reports and get a feel for the arriving talent. Both Ohio Dominican and Hillsdale received first-place votes to win the North, while record-wise, Walsh is the top team imported from the GLIAC with a 32-18 record in 2017.
Hillsdale also made the GLIAC Championship as the No. 6 seed last spring and the Chargers sported a 17-15 record in conference play. Fans should get used to the name of Ohio Dominican’s mashing corner infielder Justin Childers (.451/62 R/60 RBI), the 2017 GLIAC Player of the Year, NCAA DII batting champ and Second Team All-American by the ABCA.
Walsh (37 points), Findlay (24 points) and Lake Erie (14 points), all pose a threat to mix it up with what should be a very entertaining North Division race.
The conference is working with each institution to provide a comprehensive season preview with the composite schedule targeted for an early February start date.
2018 Great Midwest Baseball Preseason Coaches Poll presented by Under Armour
NORTH DIVISION
| School |
Points |
| 1. Malone (9 first-place votes) |
58 |
| 2. Ohio Dominican (2 first-place votes) |
45 |
| 3. Hillsdale (1 first-place vote) |
38 |
| 4. Walsh |
37 |
| 5. Findlay |
24 |
| 6. Lake Erie |
14 |
SOUTH DIVISION
| School |
Points |
| 1. Kentucky Wesleyan (8 first-place votes) |
58 |
| 2. Trevecca (4 first-place votes) |
54 |
| 3. Alderson Broaddus |
36 |
| 4. Ohio Valley |
30 |
| 5. Cedarville |
27 |
| 6. Davis & Elkins |
11 |