CCC Pre-Season Coaches' Poll: Baseball
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (February 19, 2020 – Salve Regina University and Endicott College both earned a share of the top spot in the 2020 Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Baseball Preseason Coaches' Poll and will enter this year's campaign as the two favorites to claim the CCC Tournament title.
Both teams earned 56 points in the poll which was conducted via a vote by the league's eight head baseball coaches last week.
The Seahawks, which earned four of a possible eight first place votes, come into the year as the reigning CCC Tournament Champions. Salve Regina has earned three of the past four CCC titles (2016, 2017, 2019) and was the CCC Tournament runner-up in the other year (2018). Last season, the Seahawks took a difficult path to the championship through the loser's bracket. They were the No. 4 seed in the tournament and dropped their opener to No. 5 seed Nichols, but were able string together four consecutive victories (including two over top-seeded Western New England) to earn a spot in the CCC Championship Series. In the series, the Seahawks put themselves in a hole once again as they dropped the opener to No. 2 seed Roger Williams. However, they were able to bounce back to take the last two games and clinch the title and claim the conference's automatic qualifier into the NCAA Championship.
The CCC Tournament Champions went 1-2 at the NCAA Hartford Regional.
Salve Regina head baseball coach Eric Cirella has a core group of players who have been a part of multiple championships and "they need to lead us and teach the freshman how to go about their business to continue the culture that a lot of the alumni have set for them."
The core features strength up the middle with 2020 captains in catcher Dylan Ketch (Clinton, Conn.), pitcher Patrick Maybach (Sauderstown, R.I.), shortstop Madden Ward (Clinton, Conn.), and centerfielder Zach Barlok (Cheshire, Conn.).
Ketch finished second in the league in batting average (.387) behind his graduating teammate and 2019 CCC Player of the Year Zack Smith (New Canaan, Conn.). Right-handed hurler Michael Mathews (West Hartford, Conn.) led all conference pitchers in strikeouts (84) last season. Despite missing several weeks on the mound, Maybach amassed 67 Ks (ranked third in CCC) and finished right behind Mathews for top two spots in strikeouts per nine innings (12.74 and 12.39, respectively).
"There are a lot of talented teams in the CCC," continues Cirella entering his seventh season at the helm. "If we stay healthy and continue to work the right way, I expect us to be competing when the dust settles. I'm just excited to start playing baseball so we can work on our craft."
Salve Regina has won 10 CCC titles overall, and three of the last four. Eric Cirella has his name on four championships including the 2005 crown as a senior captain for the Seahawks.
The Gulls earned three first place votes in the poll after completing a 9-5 conference year in 2019. They were the No. 3 seed in the conference tournament, but lost to the Hawks in the Pod B Final. Endicott was the CCC Tournament runner-up in both 2016 and 2017 and will try to return to championship form this year.
Roger Williams was the CCC Tournament runner-up last year and lands in the No. 3 spot in this year's poll with 46 points. The Hawks were the No. 2 seed in last year's tournament and advanced to the CCC Championship Series all the way through the winner's bracket before dropping the series to the eventual champions. Their appearance in the championship round was the first since 2015.
Western New England landed fourth in the poll with 44 points and the final first place vote. The Golden Bears were the CCC Regular-Season Champions in 2019 after claiming the tournament title the year before. They went 13-1 in conference play, but were swept in the CCC Pod A Final by the eventual champion Seahawks.
Nichols rounded out the top five in the polling with 37 points, while Curry placed sixth with 17. Gordon and Wentworth wrapped up this year's poll, tying for seventh with 16 points each.
First pitch of the new year for CCC baseball teams is on Friday, Feb. 21 as Endicott takes on Trinity (Texas) in non-conference action with many other teams getting going later in the week. League play begins on March 21 with three conference doubleheaders on the schedule. The top six teams in the conference standings at the end of the regular season will qualify for the 2020 CCC Championship Tournament, which will begin on Thursday, April 30. The double-elimination tournament will whittle the field down to two teams, which will compete in the best-of-three CCC Championship Series for the conference title. The winner of the Championship Series, which is scheduled for Friday-Saturday, May 8-9, will be named the CCC Tournament Champion and earn the conference's automatic qualifier into the 2020 NCAA Division III Baseball Championship.
Click HERE to view the whole 2020 CCC baseball schedule.