Baseball Ranked in Early Preseason Polls
12/21/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
The Coastal Carolina University baseball team has been ranked in both the Ping! Baseball and the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper's 2008 preseason poll, the organizations announced recently.
Coastal is ranked 19th in the Ping! Baseball preseason rankings. The website says "Coach Gary Gilmore’s Coastal Carolina Chanticleers have quietly become one of the premier teams in the nation. The ’07 Chants had a number of seniors whose contributions will be greatly missed, however a ton of talent remains." Coastal will face five teams ranked in Ping! Baseball's top 30, including fifth-ranked North Carolina.
Coastal earned 406 points and is ranked 37th in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper preseason poll. Coastal also will face five opponents ranked in CBN's top 40.
The rankings add to a preseason in which junior Bobby Gagg (Hamburg, N.J./Wallkill) was named a Second Team Preseason All-American by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. Gagg and senior Tommy Baldridge (Fort Mill, S.C./Fort Mill) were named to the Wallace Award Watch List, while Baldridge and junior David Sappelt (Saxapahaw, N.C./Southern Alamance) were named the nation's fourth best outfielders by CSTV.com.
Coastal opens the 2008 season Friday, Feb. 22 against Maryland at 4 p.m., in Watson Stadium/Vrooman Field. The Chanticleers return 15 lettermen from last year’s 50-13 team that hosted the 2007 Myrtle Beach Regional.
