WILMINGTON EDGES DOMINICAN BY ONE VOTE IN CACC BASEBALL PRE-SEASON POLL

February 10, 2011

WILMINGTON EDGES DOMINICAN BY ONE VOTE IN CACC BASEBALL PRE-SEASON POLL

New Haven, CT (2/10/11) Wilmington University has been picked first in the 2010 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) preseason baseball poll, which was voted upon by the 11 CACC head coaches. The Wildcats edged second-place Dominican College by a single vote (116-115). Wilmington and Dominican collected all 11 first place votes, with the Wildcats taking six and the Chargers getting five. Post University finished third in balloting, followed by Felician College.

New Haven, CT (2/10/11) Wilmington University has been picked first in the 2010 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) preseason baseball poll, which was voted upon by the 11 CACC head coaches. The Wildcats edged second-place Dominican College by a single vote (116-115). Wilmington and Dominican collected all 11 first place votes, with the Wildcats taking six and the Chargers getting five. Post University finished third in balloting, followed by Felician College.

The Wildcats return 13 letterwinners from a team that won the CACC regular season title with a 16-4 record to go with an overall mark of 29-18. Wilmington spent numerous weeks ranked in the East Region, reaching as high as fourth. This season, Wilmington is ranked fifth in the NCBWA East Region Preseason Poll. The club will be led by senior Joe Harris, a senior left-hander who went 6-2 last year with a 2.09 earned run average. The CACC Pitcher of the Year in 2010, Harris was first-team All-CACC pick, and was a first-team Daktronics, ABCA, and NCBWA All-East Region honoree. He also garnered NCBWA All-America third team honors. First team All-CACC catcher Mike Godwin and second team pitcher Kurt Bruce are also back for Wilmington.

Dominican is the defending CACC Tournament champion after defeating Post to claim the 2010 title. The Chargers went 28-18 last year and compiled a 15-5 conference mark. DC is ranked sixth in the NCBWA Preseason East Region Poll. DC will be led by junior right-hander Dave Bartuska, who was named a preseason All-American by Baseball America after going 7-2 last season with a 2.40 ERA. Four-year starter at catcher, Robert Iglesias, sophomore All-CACC outfielder Tony Blake and All-Region outfielder Dan Robinson are also back for the Chargers.

Post finished third with 94 points and will be bolstered by seven returning starters in the field. The Eagles welcome back junior starter Dan Steers, who went 8-3 last season with a 2.10 ERA, and first team All-CACC 3B Brendan Barry, who hit .356 last season. Barry was named to the 2010 CACC All-Tournament team and was listed as a "Player to Watch" by the American Baseball Coaches Association.

Felician garnered 88 points to finish fourth in the poll. The Golden Falcons return four all-conference performers, including preseason All-Region selection and 2010 CACC Rookie of the Year, OF Joe Petosa, and fellow first-team RHP Joel Sanchez, who is coming off a 7-0 season. However, the Golden Falcons will have to integrate 15 newcomers, including five transfers. Felician has reached the CACC Tournament in four of the last five seasons.

The first games of the 2011 season are slated for February 18 and the first conference games are scheduled for March 19, with four double-headers on tap.

The 2011 CACC Tournament will commence on Tuesday, May 10 with a pair of single-elimination games, with the No. 3 seed hosting No. 6 and the No. 4 seed welcoming the fifth seed. The winners of those two games, along with the top two seeds, will advance to a double- elimination tournament at Wilmington University on May 12-14.

The 2011 CACC Preseason Baseball Poll is listed below.

CACC Baseball

2011 Preseason Coaches' Poll

	School	2010 Records	Points
1.	Wilmington (6)	29-18/16-4 CACC	116
2.	Dominican (5)	28-18/15-5	115
3.	Post	25-22/12-8	94
4.	Felician	26-24/13-7	88
5.	Concordia	28-22/12-8	73
6.	Chestnut Hill	16-22/11-9	68
7.	Caldwell	15-20/11-9	48
8.	Bloomfield	9-36/4-16	44
9.	Philadelphia	14-19/11-9	43
10.	Nyack	9-31/4-16	24
11.	USciences	4-36/1-19	13

()-First Place Votes

The aim of Dominican University New York is to promote educational excellence, leadership, and service in an environment characterized by respect for the individual and concern for the community and its needs. Founded by the Dominican Sisters of Blauvelt, the university is an independent institution of higher learning, Catholic in origin and heritage. In the Dominican tradition, it fosters the active, shared pursuit of truth and embodies an ideal of education rooted in the values of reflective understanding and compassionate involvement. Committed to building its programs upon a strong foundation in the liberal arts and sciences, the university maintains a student-centered climate and serves a diverse community of students in undergraduate and graduate programs. The university empowers this community of learners to excel, lead and serve with integrity and to engage responsibly in the pursuit of a more just, ethical and sustainable world. Dominican also sponsors 18 varsity intercollegiate sports that compete at the NCAA Division II level. To learn more about Dominican University New York, please visit www.duny.edu.