So I get to work this morning and check my email. To my surprise I got the Baseball top 10 preseason NCCAAII poll. I’m sure, being the astute sports fan you are, you’ve read it on CCSN already, but here’s a recap for you who are late to class:
1. Toccoa Falls College
2. Clearwater Christian College
3. Manhattan Christian College
4. Dallas Christian College
5. Ohio Christian University
6. Hillsdale Freewill Baptist College
7. North Central University
8. Lancaster Bible College
9. Florida Christian College
10. Valley Forge Christian College
Immediately I closed the email and did my job. But after that I started putting together my top ten! Dear coaches, I’m sure you all do more homework than I do when it comes to the teams you play (mostly sarcasm) But seriously this list is whack! Saying that, it’s a preseason poll that means nothing, and it’s still basketball season so I’m not giving a season preview top 10 until February, but given what I know here’s my version of the Preseason top 10.
1. Toccoa Falls
Undisputed here! Justin’s a great coach with great talent. Also… there’s a waterfall on their campus.
2. Dallas Christian
Talented team last year, and in Dallas you can almost play year round. Their fall roster is big, and numbers mean competition.
3. Ohio Christian
Best offense in the country last year. Didn’t use the long ball but peppered it all over the park. They’ll miss Stefan “im good at everything” Vasiloff and Adam Peters. They are young… very young, but they have more pitching which they lacked last year.
4. North Central
They Put 17 hits up on a Pitcher who gives up nothing in the first round of the tourney last year. They have an All American left side of the INF and a deeper pitching staff that will have them poised to take a step up.
5. Florida Christian
New guys on the block! I’ve met a lot of their players when I was in Florida for the Fall Tournaments, they have a lot of “First off the Bus” kind of guys! They also have hitters who will do work in their first year having a team. Yes I think they are 5th place good.
6. Manhattan Christian
They are ranked VERY high to start the season. Coaches must know something I don’t. I love the Manhattan guys, they are the best small ball team around. I just don’t see them 2nd in the country.
7. Hillsdale College
They missed the tournament last year being the last team out. This year the South probably won’t get three teams in the tournament. Hillsdale is hungry!
8 Clearwater Christian
They lost a lot… A lot. But they are still better than most of the other teams out there.
Hmm… anything else, it’s a dice roll.
9 Lancaster Bible
IF last year’s PBU team was the best the east had to offer… im going to be disappointed.
10 Maranatha Baptist
I don’t know much about them but im not putting another East or Mid-East team on this list cause I like feeling like I make sense…
K, there are some changes based on players staying at Ccc id put them 5 now
Look out for Lancaster Bible, they aren’t deep pitching wise, but they have a kid that can come close too 90 on the mound, I’m told.
90s is easier to hit than 75… well in my experience lol. I’ll check them out though… Given the wide openness of the East, they have a good chance to make the tournament.
Ill tell you who to look out for.. Arlington Baptist came out of the gate swinging.
FCC plays a challenging non “conference” schedule and is hitting the heck out of the ball. They have to be one of the best offensive baseball teams in NCCAA. If pitching can hold up look out.
Is there a weekly standings or stats site for NCCAA baseball by the way??