Tuesday, January 24, 2006

Macon, Ga. – Familiar faces top the Atlantic Sun Conference Preseason Baseball Poll as Florida Atlantic is the early favorite to win their third regular season title.

The Owls, who are entering their final season of play in the A-Sun, received nine of a possible 11 votes in the coaches poll while rival Stetson garnered the remaining two votes to stand second. The media poll was similar with FAU grabbing seven first place votes to sneak past the Hatters for the top spot by just one point. The coaches and media were split on their projected tournament champion as the coaches selected Florida Atlantic and the media gave the nod to tournament host Stetson.

Following the pair of traditional powers is newcomer UNF who is only one year removed from reaching the NCAA Division II title game. Gardner-Webb lands fourth followed by ETSU and Jacksonville. First year member Kennesaw State stands as a solid seventh place in both polls while Belmont, Campbell, Lipscomb and Mercer rank in the bottom four spots in slightly different order in each poll.

Reigning A-Sun Freshman of the Year Chris Johnson earned Preseason Player of the Year honors after ranking in the top-5 in eight offensive categories in his first season at Stetson. The versatile player led the league in batting average for a significant portion of the season and finished with a league-best 100 hits, just the seventh player in conference history to reach the century mark. Johnson is one of four Hatters to litter the Preseason All-Atlantic Sun team, the most players from a single team. Joining Johnson, are left-handed starter Chris Ingoglia, shortstop Brian Bocock and speedy outfielder Shane Jordan.

Florida Atlantic, Gardner-Webb and Campbell each had two starters land on the team. Dominant right-hander Mickey Storey is coming off a 10-1 season and nearly earned a spot on the USA National Team this past summer while two-way threat Mike McBryde is an offensive power in the heart of the FAU order and showed a great mound presence with his 10 saves in 2005. Third baseman Blake Lalli and catcher Jay McConnell were catalysts in the Gardner-Webb lineup last season after Lalli led the league in hitting at .384 while McConnell’s .345 average was tops among A-Sun backstops. The right-side of the Campbell defense anchors the Camels efforts to return to the A-Sun Championship. Mike Priest is the top returning home run hitter in the A-Sun after racking up 14 last season and the versatile Tim Holt drove in 49 runs while playing a variety of positions including second base.

Mercer’s top starter Brantley New rounds out the preseason pitching staff and will be a lynch pin for the Bears in 2006. Outfielder Shane Byrne put up monster numbers for ETSU last season, hitting .373 to go with 11 homers and 45 RBI.

A-Sun action begins on February 1 when Jacksonville travels to Florida A&M for a 2:00 first pitch.