LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. - Trinity University has been selected as the preseason favorite based on balloting from league head coaches heading into the 2021 SCAC Baseball Season.
The Tigers, who were selected as the favorites going into the 2020 season before the year was cut short due to Covid-19 and had won the most recent SCAC Tournament title back in 2019, received seven first-place votes to finish atop the poll with 62 points. Texas Lutheran, which has made consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament (2018, 2019) and tied with the TU Tigers for the 2019 regular season title, received the remaining first-place vote to claim the second spot with 56 points. Centenary, one of three different SCAC programs to earn an NCAA bid since 2017, finished third with 44 points, while Southwestern checked in at fourth with 41 points. After posting its best start through eight games (7-1) in 2020 since the 2012 season, Dallas earned 30 points to round out the top five in fifth. Schreiner and St. Thomas shared the sixth sport with 21 points, followed by Austin College in eighth with 13 total points.
Trinity, which opens the 2021 campaign ranked 21st in the ABCA/Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Division III Preseason Poll, enters the season with a decorated senior class of 20, led by three First Team All-SCAC performers in 2019 in outfielder Rafe Chaumette, designated hitter Michael Goodrich and right-handed pitcher Corey Cater. In addition to his All-SCAC accolades in 2019, Chaumette was named to the D3baseball.com All-West Region Third Team and the West Region All-Tournament Team. In a shortened 2020 season, he posted a .283 batting average in 12 games, with 15 hits, 14 runs scored, 11 RBI, six stolen bases, four doubles and three triples. Goodrich, which made the All-SCAC team as a catcher in 2019, was one of six Tigers to drive in 10 or more runs in just 12 games in 2020, knocking in 10. He also batted .318 from the dish, with 14 hits, scored 10 runs and smashed one homerun. Also returning as a mainstay in the lineup and part of the Tigers' strong senior class is outfielder Jack Vonderhaar. Vonderhaar led the Tigers with a .383 batting average in 2020 with 18 hits, 15 runs scored, 13 RBI and 11 extra base hits.
Cater will anchor the Trinity rotation after boasting a perfect 3-0 record last season with a 2.12 ERA and 21 strikeouts in 17 innings of work. A 2019 SCAC All-Tournament Team performer, senior left-hander James Nittoli will compliment Cater on the mound after leading Trinity with 22 strikeouts a season ago and posting a 2-0 record with a 3.97 ERA. Sophomore Cadhan McGahan also returns after leading Trinity with a sparkling 0.96 ERA and 20 strikeouts as a freshman last season.
Trinity is once again led by head coach Tim Scannell, who is in his 23rd year at the helm of the Tiger program. Scannell has earned SCAC Coach-of-the-Year honors 10 times in his career and has amassed a record of 709-268 (.726) over 22 seasons. He is ranked in the top-five among active NCAA Division III coaches by winning percentage.
The 2021 SCAC baseball season begins on February 6th, while the first conference series of the year are scheduled for Friday, March 19th. The 2021 SCAC Baseball Tournament will be held in May at The Depot at Cleburne Station as the double-elimination tournament will begin on Friday the 7th.
| 2021 SCAC Baseball Preseason Coaches' Poll (first-place votes in parentheses, followed by total points) |
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| 1. | Trinity University (7) | 62 |
| 2 | Texas Lutheran University (1) | 56 |
| 3. | Centenary College | 44 |
| 4. | Southwestern University | 41 |
| 5. | University of Dallas | 30 |
| 6. | Schreiner University | 21 |
| University of St. Thomas | 21 | |
| 8. | Austin College | 13 |
