BOSTON, MA – Coming off their third-consecutive GNAC Championship in 2012, the Saint Joseph's College Monks have been selected as the Pre-Season favorite in the 2013 Great Northeast Athletic Conference Baseball Pre-Season Coaches' Poll. The Monks, who were ranked #14 in a pair of national pre-season polls, earned a total of 79 points and eight first place votes.

Saint Joseph's returns several key players from last season, including senior pitcher Chad Rafferty (Keene, N.H.) and sophomore catcher Joe Coyne (Duxbury, Mass.). The battery have been listed as "Players to Watch," as chosen by NCAA DIII head coaches across the nation, for the 2013 season by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper. Rafferty, a 2013 D3baseball.com Preseason First Team All-American, recorded a perfect 10-0 record with a 1.71 ERA and 74 strikeouts during his junior campaign. He held opponents to a stingy .213 batting average and yielded just 20 walks in 68.1 innings as the Monks' staff ace and claimed D3Baseball.com All-America, ABCA/Rawlings All-America, D3Baseball.com New England Pitcher of the Year, NCBWA New England Pitcher of the Year, NEIBA First Team All-New England, GNAC Pitcher of the Year, and First Team All-GNAC honors last spring. Coyne ranked as the Monks' hits (56) leader and batted .346 with 24 runs, 12 doubles, two triples, 24 RBI, and four steals as a freshman last season. The first-year backstop started all 46 games and batted third in all but four contests a year ago and garnered First Team All-Conference accolades for his efforts.

The Suffolk University Rams finished second in the poll with 64 points and the only other first place vote. The Rams will look for another big offensive year out of junior infielder Jake Cintolo (Wrentham, Mass.) who finished his sophomore campaign with a team-best .365 average. The third baseman led the team with 61 hits, 17 doubles and 17 walks while also producing 30 RBI to rank second. Also returning will be senior RHP Jhonneris Mendez (Boston, Mass.). The staff ace posted a 6-3 record last year while also notching one save. His 2.11 ERA was a team-low while and the pitcher tossed two complete games en route to 59.2 total innings last year.

After advancing to the GNAC Semifinals in 2012, the Anna Maria AMCATS placed third in the Pre-Season poll with 58 points. The AMCATS graduated only five players from last season's team that collected 24 wins including an 11-5 mark in GNAC action. Anna Maria will look to senior outfielder Mike Guarnieri (Wallingford, Conn.) to pick up where he left off last season in which he recorded a .361 average over 42 games.

With 55 points, the Johnson & Wales University Wildcats finished four in the poll and will look to rebound after an early exit from the 2012 GNAC tournament which they hosted in Providence, R.I. The Wildcats return junior shortstop Alex Pezzuto (Hastings, N.Y.) and senior first baseman Brian Olofson (Highlands, N.Y.) who combined to collect 97 hits in 2012 while posting a combined 51 RBI and a .345 average.

Albertus Magnus College earned 46 points and the fifth ranking in the poll after posting a 7-7 GNAC mark in 2012.

With 34 points, the Lasell College Lasers sit in the sixth spot while the Emerson College Lions are not far behind in the seventh spot with 29 points.

Rounding out the 2013 GNAC poll was Norwich University with 22 points and the eighth spot while Rivier University earned 18 points and the ninth place ranking.

COURTESY OF GNAC SPORTS INFORMATION OFFICE