Gator Baseball Picked Fifth by Coaches

Feb 25, 2008

NCAC Coaches Poll (.pdf)

CLEVELAND – The Allegheny College baseball team was picked to finish fifth in the North Coast Athletic Conference according to the league coaches in the conference’s annual preseason poll.

The Gators picked up 63 points, just behind Wittenberg (67) and Denison (68). Ranked fourth in the d3baseball.com poll, Wooster took nine of ten first-place votes, tallying 99 points, with Ohio Wesleyan picking up the only other first-place vote, earning 90 total points. Kenyon (48), Wabash (45), Oberlin (26), Hiram (24) and Earlham (20) round out the remaining teams in the conference.

The Gators come into the 2008 campaign looking to continue its hot finish to the season, as the team went 14-10 to end the year after coming out of the gates 0-13. The squad took the NCAC East’s second playoff spot, eventually falling to tournament champion Ohio Wesleyan in the semifinals of the league championships.

Alex Herrnberger (Eighty Four, Pa./Canon McMillan) and J.R. Hess (Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic) return to lead the Gator offense, with both batting over .300 on the year, the Herrnberger batting .348 and Hess .327. Pete Obourn (Farmington, N.Y./Victor) and Mike Pereslucha (Vandergrift, Pa./Kiski) each hit a team-high four home runs, with the latter driving in 23 runs to pace returners.

The pitching staff returns 10-of-11 pitchers that saw action, including 2007 All-NCAC Honorable Mention selection Colt Viehdorfer (Morrisdale, Pa./West Branch), who led the team with four wins and an earned run average of 4.82 with 34 strikeouts and just 19 bases on balls.

The Gators open their 2008 season in Port Charlotte, Florida on March 15 when they take on Wentworth in a double header starting at 1:00 p.m.

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