Heidelberg is preseason favorite
|
Ricardo Lizcano is one reason Heidelberg is the
preseason favorite to win the 2011 D-III baseball
championship. |
Coming off their first appearance in Appleton, Wis., the Student Princes' of Heidelberg have their sights set on another crack at the NCAA D-III Baseball Championship. In the NCBWA/D3baseball.com preseason Top 25 released on Thursday, they are the favorites to take home a Walnut and Bronze trophy at the end of May.
With four players on the 2011 D3baseball.com preseason All-American team, Heidelberg brings an experienced and talented team to the diamond in 2011. The offense will be paced by leadoff hitter Riccardo Lizcano and third baseman Willie Brechun. Joining Lizcano and Brechun on the preseaosn honor squad are two pitchers in starter Ethan Holt and closer Andy Lowe.
Following Heidelberg is the 2010 Midwest regional champion, UW-Stevens Point. The Pointers garnered three first place votes. Shortstop Eric Fritz will join a lineup that features a junior or senior at every position.
Following UW-Stevens Point are Kean and Corland State. The Kean Cougars have made a habit of making the late season trip to Appleton with their three year run of Mid-Atlantic Regional championships stopped in 2010 by the Johns Hopkins Blue Jays.
Cortland is also no stranger to the playoffs with the longest active streak of D-III tournament appearances at 18 straight years. Rounding out the top 5 in the UW-Whitewater Warhawks. UW-Whitewater will need the pitching talents of Jeff Donovan and Riley Tichner and a solid offense to make another run at a national championship.
|
Birmingham-Southern's
Brandon Ricco will have only a SCAC regular season
title to shoot for. As a provisional team, the Panthers are not
eligible for the playoffs (or the Top 25). |
Johns Hopkins, the winningest team in 2010 with 44 victories comes in at No. 6 and is followed by two other 2010 Regional winners in Shenandoah and Linfield. Ninth ranked is the reigning national champion, the Illinois Wesleyan Titans. St. Thomas, the 2009 Champion fills out the top 10.
Only one team that made the championship round in 2010 is ranked outside of the top 25. No. 13 UMass-Boston was a cinderella team in 2010 and returns one of the best second basemen in the country and five other seniors in the starting line-up.
No 21. Keystone, No. 24 Eastern Connecicut State, and No. 25 Plattsburgh State were unranked at the end of 2010 and appear in the 2011 preseason Top 25.
The rest of the Top 25 is found here.
The D3baseball.com Top 25 is voted on by a panel of 25 coaches, Sports Information Directors and media members from across the country, and is published weekly. Full members of NCAA Division III are eligible.
