WALNUT CREEK, Calif- The defending west region champion Sonoma State baseball team was slotted third in the CCAA pre-season coaches' poll, released by the conference office this week. Chico State was the coaches' pick to take home the title, followed closely by UC San Diego and Sonoma State.
Sonoma State has won the last two CCAA titles and has won the championship five times in ten years of conference membership.
The Seawolves are coming off the best season in school history, when they went 52-15 on their way to CCAA and west region titles. Sonoma finished third at the NCAA Division II Championship in Sauget, Illinois.
The Seawolves will welcome back CCAA Player of the Year
Ian Bridges, CCAA Newcomer of the Year
Kris Haycock, and Second Team All-CCAA pick
Mark Pestorich, among others to the lineup in 2009.
Gary Moran, a CCAA Honorable Mention pick after going 8-3 last season, heads up the pitching staff.
Sonoma State kicks off the 2009 season on Tuesday, February 3rd with a non-conference game at Cal State Stanislaus. The home opener is three days later when the Seawolves host Cal State Monterey Bay in the first of a four-game series.
CCAA Baseball
Pre-Season Coaches Poll |
| Place |
Team (first place votes) |
Pts. |
| 1. |
Chico State (3) |
73 |
| 2. |
UC San Diego (4) |
70 |
| 3. |
SONOMA STATE (2)
|
69 |
| 4. |
Cal State Stanislaus (1)
|
56 |
| 5. |
Cal State L.A.
|
43 |
| 6. |
Cal State San Bernardino |
39 |
| 7. |
Cal Poly Pomona |
37 |
| 8. |
Cal State Dominguez Hills |
31 |
| 9. |
Cal State Monterey Bay
|
17 |
| 10. |
San Francisco State
|
9 |
