WINTHROP, Mass. – Saint Joseph's College of Maine, Johnson & Wales University and defending league champion Suffolk University finished within two points of each other in the 2016 Great Northeast Athletic Conference Baseball Preseason Poll, which was released on Wednesday afternoon.
Saint Joseph's received 55 points and three first-place votes to take the top spot, while JWU collected 54 points and two first-place nods and Suffolk garnered 53 points and two first-place tallies.
The Monks, led by 24th-year Head Coach Will Sanborn '86, return seven starters from a 2015 club that went 27-16 overall and 13-1 in GNAC play en route to claiming the top seed in the GNAC Tournament last spring. Senior Taylor Reuillard (Biddeford, Maine) and juniors Brett Barbati (Melrose, Mass.), Taylor Black (Cardiff by the Sea, Calif.), Scott Betts (Peabody, Mass.), and Dan Donovan (Lynn, Mass.) earned 2015 First Team All-GNAC honors and look to lead the Monks to their seventh GNAC Championship in the last nine years.
The three teams were the last three remaining last spring in the GNAC Tournament. After claiming the 2015 regular-season title, Saint Joseph's was eliminated from the postseason after losing twice on the same day to Suffolk and JWU. That set the stage for Suffolk and JWU to square off on Championship Sunday, as JWU forced the decisive if-necessary game with a 7-3 victory before Suffolk walked off with the league title in a 4-3, 13-inning thriller.
The Rams went on to the NCAA Tournament before falling to Southern Maine and MIT at the New England Regional in Harwich, Mass.
Lasell College finished fourth in the poll with 41 points, while Rivier University took the fifth spot with 32 points and one first-place vote. Rivier went 8-6 last year in GNAC play after going just 1-13 in 2014.
Albertus Magnus College, which will begin playing its home games at Rochford Field in Hamden, Conn. this season, finished sixth in the preseason poll with 22 points, followed by Norwich University with 20 points and Anna Maria College with 11 points.
Founded in 1995, the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) is an NCAA Division III association made up of 12 member institutions and over 3,000 student-athletes across the New England region. Each year, the GNAC sponsors and administers 17 championships, while balancing academic integrity, athletic opportunities and community involvement.
2016 GNAC Baseball Preseason Coaches Poll
1. Saint Joseph's of Maine (3) - 55
2. Johnson & Wales (2) - 54
3. Suffolk (2) - 53
4. Lasell - 41
5. Rivier (1) - 32
6. Albertus Magnus - 22
7. Norwich - 20
8. Anna Maria - 11
COURTESY OF GNAC SPORTS INFORMATION OFFICE
#GOMONKS
Follow Saint Joseph's Athletics on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram!
Saint Joseph's College is Maine's only Catholic liberal arts college, providing a supportive, personalized and career-focused education for more than 100 years. From its 474-acre campus on the shores of Sebago Lake, the College offers more than 40 undergraduate programs to a population of approximately 1,000 students. Saint Joseph's College Online provides certificates, undergraduate and advanced degrees for working adults through an online learning program. For more, visit www.sjcme.edu.
