SEASIDE, Calif. — The defending California Collegiate Athletic Association Champion Cal State Monterey Baseball team has been tabbed for a return to the postseason by the CCAA baseball coaches in their annual preseason poll, released Monday.
Conference coaches tabbed the Otters for a third–place finish behind 2018 West Region champion UC San Diego (119 points) and perennial contender Cal Poly Pomona (104). The Otters received 102 points, including one first–place vote. UCSD claimed nine first place votes and Pomona picked up the other two.
"Being picked to finish toward the top is a sign of respect from the rest of the league, but in the grand scheme of things it really doesn't matter," says CSUMB Head Coach
Walt White, the 2018 CCAA Coach of the Year. "We need to play the games, play our best brand of baseball, and we will see where we ultimately finish. The way we play will determine our fate. There are a bunch of really good ball clubs in our conference, all capable of being in the postseason. We will take each game or series as a challenge and as an opportunity," White adds. "But we sure are not feeling ourselves right now. We have a long road ahead and we are looking forward to running the CCAA gauntlet."
CSUMB finished 39–18 overall in 2018 and won the CCAA title with a 30–14 league record. The 39 wins overall tied the school record for wins in a season while the 30 CCAA wins broke the school record of 29 set in 2013.
Returning All–West Region first teammers
T.J. Dove (Yuba CC/River Valley HS) and
Kyle Czaplak (Pacific Grove HS) will lead the Otters into the 2019 campaign this week as they travel south to face regional contender Azusa Pacific (41–11 in 2018) for a season–opening, 3–game series beginning Friday (Feb. 1) in Azusa.
2019 CCAA BASEBALL PRESEASON COACHES POLL
| No. |
SCHOOL [1st place votes] |
POINTS |
2018 (CCAA) |
2018 (ALL) |
| 1 |
UC San Diego [9] |
119 |
30–14 |
43–17 |
| 2 |
Cal Poly Pomona [2] |
104 |
25–19 |
30–24 |
| 3 |
CAL STATE MONTEREY BAY [1] |
102 |
30–14 |
39–18 |
| 4 |
Chico State |
99 |
26–18 |
31–24 |
| 5 |
Cal State L.A. |
75 |
24–20 |
28–24 |
| 6 |
San Francisco State |
64 |
23–21 |
24–28 |
| 7 |
Sonoma State |
63 |
22–22 |
26–24 |
| 8 |
Cal State East Bay |
49 |
21–23 |
24–26 |
| 9 |
Stanislaus State |
45 |
18–26 |
22–28 |
| 10 |
Cal State San Marcos |
26 |
15–29 |
20–30 |
| 11 |
Cal State San Bernardino |
25 |
15–29 |
15–35 |
| 12 |
Cal State Dominguez Hills |
21 |
15–29 |
18–32 |
GO OTTERS!
