FROM PRESS RELEASE
DALLAS – The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association continues its tradition of NCAA polls with the inaugural NCBWA-D3baseball.com Preseason Division III Poll. Weekly polls will start on February 25 and continue through June 2, following the NCAA Division III Championship in Grand Chute, Wisconsin.
The poll voters come from 25 college baseball writers, sports information directors and related media persons from throughout the nation.
Cortland State has received the No. 1 preseason nod in the inaugural NCBWA-D3baseball.com Preseason Division III Poll. Cortland States returns an experienced pitching staff headed by George Jweid and a potent offense anchored by preseason All-American catcher Mike Zaccardo. Kean is the defending NCAA Division III champion and is No. 3 in the pre-2008 NCBWA survey.
This week’s poll has representation by 18 different conferences from the 2008 NCAA Division III ranks. For more information or to join the NCBWA, please go to www.ncbwa.com.
Rank School (first place votes) Conference 2007 Record Final 2007 Ranking
1 Cortland State (6) SUNYAC 42-7 2
2 Chapman (2) Independent 41-8 5
3 Kean (10) NJAC 43-8 1
4 Wooster (5) NCAC 42-7 10
5 Emory UAA 43-10 26
6 Wisc.-Stevens Point WIAC 34-17 3
7 Eastern Conn. State Little East 38-12 8
8 Johns Hopkins Centennial 38-11 12
9 Carthage (1) CCIW 37-13 6
10 Marietta OAC 32-17 7
11 Wisc.-Oshkosh WIAC 35-12 13
12 Pacific Lutheran NWC 35-9 9
13 St Thomas (Minn.) (1) MIAC 30-11 17
14 College of New Jersey NJAC 34-11 14
15 Wheaton (Mass.) NEWMAC 34-13 11
16 Texas-Tyler ASC 37-1 nr
17 Texas Lutheran ASC 37-10-1 15
18 Augustana CCIW 35-14 22
19 Illinois Wesleyan CCIW 32-13 26
20 Otterbein OAC 32-13 20
21 Ithaca Empire 8 27-15 21
22 Luther IIAC 31-11 16
23 Trinity (Conn) NESCAC 30-8 19
24 Ferrum USA South 27-18 18
25 Keene State Little East 32-15 29
Others receiving votes and named on more than 1 ballot (listed alphabetically): Averett, DeSales, Edgewood, George Fox, Frostburg State, Gwynedd-Mercy, Hampden Sydney, Keystone, Manhattanville, McMurry, Methodist, Millsaps, Montclair State, Mount St, Joseph, Ohio Wesleyan, Oneonta State, Pomona-Pitzer, RPI, Rhodes, Rowan, St, John Fisher, St. Joseph (Me.), St. Olaf, St. Scholastica, Salisbury, Southern Maine, Texas-Dallas, Transylvania, Wartburg, Washington (Mo.), Wisc.-Whitewater, York.
By conference: CCIW (3), ASC (2), Little East (2), NJAC (2), OAC (2), WIAC (2), Centennial (1), Empire Eight (1), Independent (1), IIAC (1), MIAC (1), NESCAC (1), NEWMAC (1), NCAC (1), NAC (1), SUNYAC (1), UAA (1), USA South (1)
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The NJAC is in a transition year as it introduces new coaches at William Paterson (where Jeff Albies retired after 31 years and few National Championships); The College of New Jersey’s Rick Dell took a job with major league baseball after 27 seasons, and several top 10 teams; and a rebuilding New Jersey City University loses Ken Heaten after 17 seasons.
Defending national champ Kean is back, and Montclair State, which reached the NCAA DIII World Series in 2006 is expected to be real good with Norm Schoenig, a 25 year vet, at the helm as the new dean of the coaches.
Schoenig replaces Fred Hill (now the Rutgers coach) back when I was a college student.
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