Coaches Pick Embry-Riddle to Win 2014 Baseball Title
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Six-time defending Sun Conference regular season champion Embry-Riddle was selected by the league coaches to claim the 2014 crown in the coaches' preseason poll released on Friday by the conference office. The Eagles have won 14 total Sun Conference regular season titles and 11 of the last 12. Embry-Riddle also reclaimed the conference tournament title in 2013, the program's fifth tournament crown. The poll was voted on by all 10 of the league coaches.
Randy Stegall will enter his seventh season at the helm of the Embry-Riddle program, having led the Blue and Gold to six consecutive conference regular season titles, four tournament crowns and six appearances at the Avista-NAIA World Series, including a third-place showing last year. Stegall's squad finished 50-15 overall with a 23-4 conference mark, the second-best record in league history. After dropping the first game of The Sun Conference Tournament, the Eagles won five straight elimination contests, including three on the final day of the six-team event, to emerge with the tournament crown.
The Eagles swept through their Opening Round bracket to earn the program's 12th trip to the World Series where they won their first two games before losing to eventual national champion Faulkner and national runner-up Lewis-Clark State. Embry-Riddle will return five All-Conference performers from 2013, including first teamers Kevin Lindheim and Stetson Nelson.
The Eagles garnered 99 total points, including all but one first-place nod to top the 10-team poll.
The Gyrenes of Ave Maria received the final first-place vote and 85 total points to come in second in the poll. Shawn Summe's team had a break-out season in 2013, finishing 38-21 overall and an 18-9 mark in league action. The Gyrenes qualified for their first TSC Tournament and subsequently, their first NAIA National Tournament where they went 1-2 in the Daytona Beach bracket. Ave Maria swept the 2013 superlative awards with Player of the Year Alex Sanchez, Pitcher of the Year Joe Bocchino and Coach of the Year Summe.
Bocchino returns for his senior season, along with All-Conference selections Conor Sullivan, Aaron Pigna and Ethan Striz.
St. Thomas, who has finished in the top three in the conference standings in each of the last three seasons, grabbed 83 total points in the poll after a 32-21 overall record and 17-10 TSC mark last season. The Bobcats, under Head Coach Jorge Perez, leave the state of Florida just once in 2014, a trip to Thomasville, Ga. to take on the Night Hawks in April.
Webber International claimed 69 points in the poll, coming in fourth. The Warriors and Head Coach Brad Niethammer finished 2013 at 35-20 overall and 16-11 in league play, qualifying for the conference tournament. Niethammer ranks 23rd amongst active NAIA coaches with 556 wins in 20 seasons with WIU.
After a surprising run in the 2013 Sun Conference Tournament, the USCB Sand Sharks made their third NAIA National Championship Opening Round appearance, finishing the year at 26-23 overall. USCB garnered 63 points in the poll to place fifth.
Rounding out the poll were Southeastern (48), Thomas (39), Northwood (32), Warner (22) and Florida Memorial (10)
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics will release the 2014 NAIA Coaches' Top 25 Preseason Poll on Nov. 12.
The Sun Conference All-Star Game will serve as the unofficial beginning of baseball season in The Sun Conference. The game will feature players from all 10 league teams, divided into North and South teams. The game will take place on Saturday, Jan. 18 in Babson Park, Fla. at Webber International's Heart of Florida Regional Medical Center Field
The Sun Conference Tournament is slated for May 2 - May 5 while the NAIA National Tournament Opening Round is scheduled for May 12-15 at nine sites across the country.
The Avista-NAIA World Series will be May 23-30 in Lewiston, Idaho.
2014 Sun Conference Preseason Baseball Coaches' Poll
1. Embry-Riddle - 99 (9)
2. Ave Maria - 85 (1)
3. St. Thomas - 83
4. Webber International - 69
5. USCB - 63
6. Southeastern - 48
7. Thomas - 39
8. Northwood - 32
9. Warner - 22
10. Florida Memorial - 10