The Collegiate Baseball Newspaper has put out their 2009 Preseason Division 3 Poll. It is led by Cortland State from the SUNYAC. They finished last season with a 42-5 record and an appearance in the Division 3 College World Series. They also had a school record 38 game winning streak under 10th year head coach Joe Brown. Chapman CA (40-5), Adrian MI (36-13), Kean NJ (39-11), and Southern Maine (36-14) round out the top five. (We spoke with Southern Maine head coach Ed Flaherty during the offseason and you can check out Part 1 and Part 2). National Champion Trinity from Connecticut is ranked sixth while the NCAA runner-up Johns Hopkins comes in at number 7.
NCAA Div. III Pre-Season Poll (As of Dec. 23)
www.baseballnews.com
Rank School Name ’08 Final Record Point Totals
1. Cortland St., NY 42-5 260
2. Chapman, CA 40-5 258
3. Adrian, MI 36-13 253
4. Kean, NJ 39-11 250
5. Southern Maine 36-14 247
6. Trinity, CT 45-1 245
7. Johns Hopkins, MD 42-8 242
8. Wooster, OH 36-11 239
9. Wisc.-Whitewater 42-10 236
10. Eastern Conn. St. 32-15 233
11. Salisbury, MD 41-4 232
12. Heidelberg, OH 41-10 229
13. Texas-Tyler 36-9 225
14. Lynchburg, VA 32-13 222
15. Marietta, OH 23-20 219
16. Illinois Wesleyan, IL 33-11 217
17. Linfield, OR 35-13 214
18. St. Scholastica, MN 35-6 211
19. Redlands, CA 27-13 208
20. La Verne, CA 26-16-1 206
21. Thiel, Pa 29-15 203
22. Rensselaer Poly. Inst., NY 36-12 201
23. Wheaton, IL 23-14 197
24. Rowan, NJ 34-14 195
25. St. Thomas, MN 34-9 194
26. Webster, MO 31-15 192
27. Piedmont, GA 34-14 189
28. Keene St., NH 34-11 186
29. Ithaca, NY 30-13 183
30. New Jersey 30-12 179
Other Top Teams: Carthage, WI (36-10), Wisc.-Oshkosh (29-11), Montclair St., NJ (28-20), Christopher Newport, VA (29-14), Pacific Lutheran, WA (24-14-2), Denison, OH (27-18), Wisc.-Stevens Point (29-16), Rose-Hulman, IN (32-15), Penn. St. Behrend, PA (34-12), Aurora, IL (25-15), Franklin, IN (26-14), McMurry, TX (29-19), William Paterson, NJ (23-19), St. Joseph’s, NY (27-15-1), California Lutheran (19-18-2), Beloit, WI (18-16), Rochester, NY (28-13), Haverford, PA (27-14-1), Pomona-Pitzer, CA (27-13), St. Olaf, MN (28-12).
Source: Collegiate Baseball newspaper
