The 2011 NAIA Coaches' pre-season top 25:
|
RANK |
LAST YEAR |
SCHOOL |
2010 RECORD |
TOTAL POINTS |
|
1 |
2 |
Cumberland (TN) |
58-9 |
556 |
|
2 |
4 |
Lee University (TN) |
52-13 |
526 |
|
3 |
3 |
Cal Baptist |
49-15 |
511 |
|
4 |
1 |
Lewis-Clark State (ID) |
48-5 |
498 |
|
5 |
5 |
Lubbock Christian (TX) |
46-16 |
492 |
|
6 |
8 |
Embry-Riddle (FL) |
47-19 |
465 |
|
7 |
6 |
Oklahoma City |
50-16 |
464 |
|
8 |
17 |
Point Loma Nazarene (CA) |
41-20-1 |
431 |
|
9 |
13 |
Southern Polytechnic (GA) |
49-13 |
400 |
|
10 |
7 |
British Columbia |
41-13 |
377 |
|
11 |
10 |
Madonna (MI) |
48-11 |
365 |
|
12 |
14 |
Belhaven (MS) |
44-17 |
353 |
|
13 |
9 |
LSU Shreveport |
48-13 |
340 |
|
14 |
24 |
Tennessee Wesleyan |
46-18 |
325 |
|
15 |
11 |
Fresno Pacific (CA) |
36-17 |
288 |
|
16 |
18 |
Union U. (TN) |
42-17 |
267 |
|
17 |
21 |
Campbellsville (KY) |
42-22 |
246 |
|
18 |
20 |
South Carolina-Beaufort |
38-13 |
228 |
|
19 |
19 |
York (NB) |
45-9 |
221 |
|
20 |
16 |
Faulkner (AL) |
39-21 |
212 |
|
21 |
15 |
C. of Idaho |
38-16 |
158 |
|
22 |
RV |
William Jewell (MO) |
41-15 |
141 |
|
23 |
NR |
Taylor (IN) |
38-17 |
131 |
|
24 |
22 |
Brewton-Parker (GA) |
40-18 |
130 |
|
25 |
25 |
Rio Grande (OH) |
48-13 |
116 |
First place votes: Cumberland 16, Cal Baptist 2, Lee 1, Lewis-Clark State 1
This poll represents an annual mistake by the NAIA; they take this poll much too early. With many of the top NAIA teams heavily dependent on transfers, is isn't reasonable to expect accurate predictions when the coaches don't know who they are going to have in school for the spring semester. However, this poll is out there, and is open for comments.
We do know that RHP Aaron Wilkerson is returning to Cumberland, and he could deliver another 14 wins. However, my pick for #1 is Lee; they added these transfers: RHP Maxx Catapano (2.98 ERA at Bellevue last year), 1B/C Travis Anderson (Oregon State's top hitter), LHP Shay Crawford (12 starts at Alabama-Birmingham), and RHP Matt Passauer (18 appearances at Maryland). The Bulldogs and Flames meet on the field in a single mid-week game April 19.
Cal Baptist is the defending champion of the Golden State Athletic Conference, and they start the season with three pre-season All-Americans; Sharif Othman, Brian Sharp, and Taylor Siemens. Can't argue with their #3 ranking.
Lewis-Clark State should finish about where they did the last two seasons. Lubbock Christian and #7 Oklahoma City are expected to fight it out again for the championship of the Sooner Athletic Conference. The Chaparrals will have returnees RHP Paul Gonzalez, IF Mark Gomez, and IF Richard Bohlken, and newcomers C Nate Peterson, LHP Lucas Whitmore (JUCO transfer), and RHP Mike Marshall (transfer from Stanford). The Stars can counter with pre-season All-American C Chad Carman, 2010 draft pick OF/LHP Terrance Jackson, and IF Kirk Walker, who got a Gold Glove and batted .392 last season.
#6 Embry-Riddle returns pre-season All-American RHP Phillip Reamy, who had an ERA of 0.24 last season. They also return RHP Steve Ortman (0.75 ERA last season), RHP Tucker Jensen (3.09 ERA), and IF Steve Sabins (team-best .347 batting average).
#8 Point Loma Nazarene should probably be ranked higher. SS Tyler Kuehl (.359 last season) is returning, and the Sea Lions have an impressive list of newcomers: Notre Dame transfer and 2007 draft pick RHP Ryan Sharpley, UTL Shain Stoner, who batted .480 at Southern Nazarene last season, IB/OF Edgar Molina, who batted .349 at Lee, and two freshmen with impressive high school records, OF Kendall Konopka and RHP/IF Brett Carlile.
#9 Southern Polytechnic returns C/IF Edmund Sparks (.355 last season) and RHP Tucker Stone (2.87 ERA).
#10 British Columbia appears to be close to where they were last season, with very strong pitching (Dan Britton-Foster, Sheldon McDonald, Shawn Hetherington, Brandon Kaye) and fielding (Gold Glove winner Blake Carruthers), and suspect hitting. The Thunderbirds get a test when they visit Cal Baptist Feb. 18-19.
A notable omission from the top 25 is Bellevue, who appears in the “received votes” list. The Bruins were pretty good last year, and they have LHP Jake Aylward (5-0, 1.50 ERA last season) and 1B/RHP Brandon Thompson (.381) returning. They've added JUCO transfer OF Hector Morales. What happened here is, York was rated #1 in the Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference, which means that the voters in this poll were required to rate Bellevue below York.