The SAC Announces Baseball Preseason Poll & All-League As Well As Baseball Tournament Online Ticket Pre-Order

ROCK HILL, S.C. (TheSAC.com) – Catawba, the 2015 NCAA Southeast Region Champion and Division II College World Series Finalist, has been selected first in the South Atlantic Conference's baseball annual preseason poll, as voted by the League's head coaches, it was announced today by the League office.  For the fourth consecutive year the Catawba Indians were chosen for the number one spot, picking up ten first-place votes from the panel and 110 points.

Tusculum finished second in the poll as the Pioneers collected one top-bid and 99 points.  Newberry rounded the top three with 87 points.  Wingate followed at No. 4 with 84 points, while Lincoln Memorial picked up 71 points to place fifth in the poll.  At No. 6 was Lenoir-Rhyne, who notched 66 points.  Carson-Newman came in seventh with 56 points, ahead of Anderson, who notched 51 points.  Mars Hill took the No. 9 slot as it posted 38 points.  Brevard (28 points) and Coker (24 points) finished the poll.

The South Atlantic Conference also announced its preseason All-SAC teams on Wednesday.  In the infield, reigning NCBWA and Daktronics Player of the Year Will Albertson of Catawba was named first-team catcher, while Steven Cooper of Anderson earned first-team honors at first base for the second straight year.  At second base was Shane Billings from Wingate and at short stop was Ryan Perkins from Lenoir-Rhyne.  Matthew De La Rosa of Lenoir-Rhyne rounded out the list of first-team infield honorees at third base.

The first-team outfield was comprised of JoJo Bradley from Newberry, Rayshelon Carolina of Mars Hill and Wes Neiderland from Lincoln Memorial.

Shafer Shepard of Catawba headlined the trio of first-team starting pitchers.  Placido Torres from Tusculum also earned a bid to the first-team after being named the 2014 SAC Freshman of the Year.  Carson-Newman's Vince Apicella finished up the list of first-team starting pitchers.

Wingate's Bradley Brown was voted the first-team designated hitter, while Tusculum's Devan Watts was named the first-team relief pitcher.

The South Atlantic Conference baseball season gets underway on Friday, Jan. 29.  The 2016 South Atlantic Conference Baseball Championship will take place April 28 – May 2 at Smokies Stadium in Kodak, Tenn.

Tickets for the South Atlantic Conference Baseball Championship will be available at the link provided below and will also be provided on our Championships page along with other tournament information. The All Tournament pass rates are as follows:

- Adults Pre-Sale Online - $25 + small ticket fee
- Adults Walk Up Rate - $30
- Youth, College, Senior, Military Online - $15 + small ticket fee
- Youth, College, Senior, Military Walk Up Rate - $20

2016 Preseason All-SAC First Team
C- Will Albertson, Catawba
1B – Steven Cooper, Anderson
2B – Shane Billings, Wingate
SS – Ryan Perkins, Lenoir-Rhyne
3B – Matthew De La Rosa, Lenoir-Rhyne
OF – JoJo Bradley, Newberry
OF – Rayshelon Carolina, Mars Hill
OF – Wes Neiderland, Lincoln Memorial
DH – Bradley Brown, Wingate
RP – Devan Watts, Tusculum
P – Shafer Shepard, Catawba
P – Placido Torres, Tusculum
P – Vince Apicella, Carson-Newman