Several changes are in store for the 2015 CAC baseball season. A new coach takes over for long-time Salisbury coach Doug Fleetwood, and Southern Virginia is eligible to qualify for the conference playoffs for the first time.
But some things don't change – like the expectation that defending champion Salisbury will win its fourth-straight title, and 2014 CAC Tournament finalist Christopher Newport will be right there to challenge the Sea Gulls for the crown.
SU (77 points), which won three of four games against CNU in 2014, edged the Captains (76 points) by just one point in the CAC pre-season poll of coaches (who were not allowed to vote for their own team). Each team received five first-place votes.
The top two expected challengers are 2014 defending regular-season champion York (63 points), which won 14 of 16 conference games to enter the championship tournament as the top seed, and perennial CAC playoff qualifier Frostburg State (60 points).
Mary Washington (43 points), Wesley (41 points) and St. Mary's (38 points) will battle for the final two playoff spots, according to the CAC coaches, followed by second-year program Marymount (23 points) and second-year members Penn State Harrisburg (16 points) and Southern Virginia (13 points).
Salisbury enters the 2015 campaign under the guidance of Troy Brohawn, who was the team's pitching coach under Fleetwood from 2006-09 and recently spent five seasons as the head coach of the Cambridge-South Dorchester High School, where he led the Vikings to a state championship in 2013. Another change in coaching status is that of Penn State Harrisburg's third-year mentor Ryan Bown, who was recently promoted from part-time to full-time head coach.
Southern Virginia, in its third season as an NCAA Division III probationary member and second-season as a CAC member, is eligible for the conference playoffs in all sports during the 2014-15 season. That gives the CAC 10 baseball teams battling for six playoff positions.
The double-elimination conference tournament begins with single games at the home fields of the top three seeds on Tuesday, April 15, then continues with second-round action on Thursday, April 17, at the home field of the top seed in the tournament. Weather permitting, a champion will be crowned on Saturday, April 19.
2015 CAC Baseball Preseason Coaches Poll
1. Salisbury (5 first-place votes) 77 points
2. Christopher Newport (5 first-place votes) 76 points
3. York 63 points
4. Frostburg State 60 points
5. Mary Washington 43 points
6. Wesley 41 points
7. St. Mary's 38 points
8. Marymount 23 points
9. Penn State Harrisburg 16 points
10. Southern Virginia 13 points