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CALIFORNIA - UC San Diego, the nation’s No. 2-ranked team and three-time reigning NCAA Division II West Region champion, has been picked by CCAA head coaches to finish atop the regular-season race for the second year in a row in its last season of league membership.
UC San Diego earned 10 of the 12 first-place votes en route to topping the preseason coaches’ poll with 119 total points. The Tritons are off to Division I and the Big West Conference following the upcoming campaign. They have been among the final six programs left standing in each of the last three NCAA Championship tournaments.
Eric Newman, the back-to-back-to-back ABCA West Region Coach of the Year, returns the CCAA Most Valuable Player in junior shortstop Shay Whitcomb and CCAA Most Valuable Pitcher in senior right-hander Brandon Weed. Weed was an All-American, while Whitcomb excelled in the Cape Cod Baseball League over the summer to register highly on the 2020 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft radar. Also back are redshirt junior heavy hitters Blake Baumgartner at first base and Aaron Kim behind the plate, alongside a deep pitching staff. Top newcomers include Auburn transfer Everett Lau, likely to take over for Alex Eliopulos at third base, and Delta College transfer Anthony Lucchetti.
Cal State Monterey Bay takes up the second spot with the remaining two first-place nods and 108 points. The Otters are followed by Cal Poly Pomona (102 points), Chico State (90) and Stanislaus State (82).
Cal State Monterey Bay was both the regular-season and tournament runner-up in the CCAA in 2019. Coming off two-straight NCAA West Regional appearances, head coach Walt White enters his milestone 10th year. He should have All-CCAA First Team outfielder Kyle Dean back.
Cal Poly Pomona parlayed a No. 6 seed into its second CCAA tourney banner, extending its season via the league’s automatic NCAA bid. Head coach Randy Betten, also in his 10th year, returns All-CCAA Second Team second baseman and batting leader (.337) Ryon Knowles, and welcomes in Cal State Fullerton transfer Gavin Velasquez on the mound.
Dave Taylor, in his 14th season at the helm of Chico State, will look to get his Wildcats back into the NCAA Championship after a one-year hiatus. He will have All-CCAA Second Team shortstop JT Navarro and fifth-year senior left-hander Grant Larson among his stable of returners.
Stanislaus State has the 2019 CCAA Freshman of the Year back on the hill in left-hander Rylan Tinsley. The Stockton product struck out a CCAA Tournament-record 13 in 6.2 relief innings in his postseason debut last May. Kenny Leonesio is the 18th-year Warrior skipper.
Sonoma State (58), San Francisco State (56) and Cal State LA (51) are all bunched together within seven points of each other for the sixth through eighth positions in the poll, expected to battle it out for the sixth and final CCAA postseason spot. Cal State East Bay (44), Cal State Dominguez Hills (33), Cal State San Marcos (30) and Cal State San Bernardino (19) round out the poll results.
In addition to UC San Diego’s No. 2 ranking in Collegiate Baseball Newspaper’s preseason listing from Dec. 17, Cal Poly Pomona is at No. 35 and Cal State Monterey Bay is at No. 39. Chico State and San Francisco State are among teams receiving votes outside of the top 40.
The 2020 season begins on Friday, Jan. 31, with eight teams in action, including Chico State for a doubleheader at 2019 West Region runner-up Azusa Pacific. UC San Diego gets going the next day with a twin bill at home against Concordia (OR), while San Francisco State, Cal Poly Pomona and Cal State LA have openers over the following week.
For the first time since 2012 in La Jolla, the CCAA Tournament returns to a campus venue, as Cal Poly Pomona plays host at the new-look Scolinos Field, May 6-9, with each game broadcast free on the CCAA Network. The previous seven editions were all in Stockton. Once again, the top six teams in the final standings, determined by overall winning percentage, will earn berths, with the winner of the double-elimination event gaining automatic entry into the NCAA West Regional.
| 2020 CCAA Baseball Preseason Coaches Poll |
| Rank |
Institution |
Points (First-place votes) |
| 1. |
UC San Diego |
119 (10) |
| 2. |
Cal State Monterey Bay |
108 (2) |
| 3. |
Cal Poly Pomona |
102 |
| 4. |
Chico State |
90 |
| 5. |
Stanislaus State |
82 |
| 6. |
Sonoma State |
58 |
| 7. |
San Francisco State |
56 |
| 8. |
Cal State LA |
51 |
| 9. |
Cal State East Bay |
44 |
| 10. |
Cal State Dominguez Hills |
33 |
| 11. |
Cal State San Marcos |
30 |
| 12. |
Cal State San Bernardino |
19 |