North Greenville Unanimously Picked to Repeat as Champions in Conference Carolinas Baseball Preseason Poll

1/24/2023 10:00:00 AM

GREENVILLE, S.C. – The Conference Carolinas baseball coaches have chosen North Greenville to win the 2023 regular season in the preseason poll released on Jan. 24.

The Crusaders, the reigning NCAA Division II National Champions, were the unanimous top choice with 100 points and 10 first-place votes (teams cannot vote for themselves). North Greenville returns several members of last year's team including the past two Conference Carolinas Players of the Year in Marek Chlup (2022) and John Michael Faile (2021) and the reigning Conference Carolinas Pitcher of the Year and NCAA National Championship MVP Reece Fields.

UNC Pembroke was picked second with 88 points and the remaining first-place nod while 2022 conference tournament runner-up, Mount Olive, was picked third with 83 points. Belmont Abbey rounded out the top four with 73 points.

Erskine and Francis Marion tied for fifth with 58 points while Barton and King tied for seventh with 43 points. They were followed by Emmanuel (30), Chowan (15) and Southern Wesleyan (14).

The baseball season begins on Wednesday, Feb. 1 with the conference championship scheduled for May 3-7 at CaroMont Health Park in Gastonia, North Carolina.

2023 Conference Carolinas
Baseball Preseason Poll

School	Total (First Place)
North Greenville	100 (10)
UNC Pembroke	88 (1)
Mount Olive	83
Belmont Abbey	73
Erskine	58
Francis Marion	58
Barton	43
King	43
Emmanuel	30
Chowan	15
Southern Wesleyan	14

2023 Conference Carolinas Baseball
Players to Watch

Barton

Tanner Halvorson, Jr., LHP/DH, Eau Claire, Wisconsin
Ryan McIsaac, Sr., IF/OF, Millville, New Jersey
Jared Beebe, So., IF, Atco, New Jersey

Belmont Abbey

Ben Ferguson, Sr., 1B, Chandler, Arizona (2022 First Team All-Conference Carolinas, ABCA/Rawlings First Team All-Southeast Region, NCBWA Second Team All-Southeast Region)
Connor Tucker, So., 3B/1B, Stanfield, North Carolina
Alex Sniffen, Jr., RHP, Wilmington, North Carolina

Chowan

Patrick Krack, Sr., OF, Nottingham, Maryland (2022 Murphy Osborne Finalist)
Tyler West, Jr., IF, Warsaw, Virginia
Shane Rademacher, Sr., P, Greenville, North Carolina

Emmanuel

Tyler Mayfield, Sr., RHP, Kathleen, Georgia
Clifford Brown, Jr., LHP, Hemet, Georgia
Brody Campbell, Jr., INF, Ringgold, Georgia

Erskine

Armando Becerra, Sr., OF, Miami, Florida (2022 Second Team All-Conference Carolinas)
Johnny Hummel, R-Sr., RHP, Matthews, North Carolina (2022 Second Team All-Conference Carolinas)
Christian Rivera, Jr., C, Winter Haven, Florida (2022 Second Team All-Conference Carolinas)

Francis Marion

Will Hardee, Gr., OF, Evergreen, South Carolina (2022 First Team All-Conference Carolinas, ABCA/Rawlings, NCBWA, D2CCA All-Southeast Region; 2021 First Team All-Peach Belt Conference)
Tanner Wakefield, Gr., OF, Gainesville, Georgia (2022 Second Team All-Conference Carolinas, ABCA/Rawlings Second Team All-Southeast Region)
Landon Mills, Jr., RHP, Ruby, South Carolina (2022 NJCAA Region X Pitcher of the Year)

King

Drew Moore. Sr., P, Virginia Beach, Virginia (2022 First Team All-Conference Carolinas; 2021 First Team All-Conference Carolinas, NCBWA, D2CCA Second Team All-Southeast Region)
Junior Renwick, Sr., OF/IF, Havelock, North Carolina
Jakob Brown, Sr., P, Dallas, Georgia

Mount Olive

Jack Casbarro, Sr. INF, Mount Olive, North Carolina (2022 First Team All-Conference Carolinas, ABCA/Rawlings Second Team All-American, D2CCA Third Team All-American, ABCA/Rawlings, NCBWA First Team All-Southeast Region, D2CCA Second Team All-Southeast Region; 2021 Second Team All-Conference Carolinas)
Vito Patierno, Jr., 1B, Raleigh, North Carolina (2022 Second Team All-Conference Carolinas, ABCA/Rawlings Second Team All-Southeast Region; 2021 First Team All-Conference Carolinas)
Caleb Irwin, Sr., RHP, Marble, North Carolina

North Greenville

Marek Chlup, Sr., OF, Cesky Dub, Czech Republic (2022 Conference Carolinas Player of the Year, First Team All-Conference Carolinas, D2CCA, NCBWA, ABCA/Rawlings First Team All-Southeast Region, D2CCA, ABCA/Rawlings First Team All-American, NCBWA Second Team All-American; 2021 First Team All-Conference Carolinas, ABCA/Rawlings, D2CCA Second Team All-Southeast Region)
John Michael Faile, Sr., C, Boiling Springs, South Carolina (2022 First Team All-Conference Carolinas, D2CCA, NCBWA First Team All-American, D2CCA, NCBWA First Team All-Southeast Region, ABCA/Rawlings Second Team All-Southeast Region, NCAA National Championship All-Tournament Team; 2021 Conference Carolinas Baseball Player of the Year, First Team All-Conference Carolinas, ABCA/Rawlings, NCBWA Southeast Region Player of the Year, NCBWA, D2CCA, ABCA/Rawlings First Team All-Southeast Region, D2CCA, NCBWA, ABCA/Rawlings First Team All-American, Perfect Game NCAA DII Most Valuable Player, Herff Jones Conference Carolinas Male Athlete of the Year; 2019 Conference Carolinas Freshman of the Year, First Team All-Conference Carolinas, ABCA/Rawlings Third Team All-America, ABCA/Rawlings First Team All-Southeast Region, NCBWA Second Team All-America, NCBWA First Team All-Southeast Region, D2CCA First Team All-Southeast Region)
Reece Fields, R-Jr., RHP, West Columbia, South Carolina (2022 Conference Carolinas Pitcher of the Year, First Team All-Conference Carolinas, Herff Jones Conference Carolinas Male Athlete of the Year, ABCA/Rawlings, D2CCA, NCBWA First Team All-Southeast Region, NCAA National Championship All-Tournament Team MVP)

Southern Wesleyan

Cam Mitchem, Jr., 1B, North Augusta, South Carolina
Chance Fogel, Sr., OF, Sebastian, Florida
Sandy Johnson, Sr., RHP, Manning, South Carolina

UNC Pembroke

Christian Jayne, R-Sr., OF, Fayetteville, North Carolina (2022 Second Team All-Conference Carolinas, Conference Carolinas All-Academic)
Ethan Ott, So., INF, Chesapeake, Virginia (2022 Conference Carolinas Freshman of the Year)
Evan McLean, So., RHP, Greenville, North Carolina (2022 First Team All-Conference Carolinas, D2CCA Second Team All-Southeast Region)