Warriors Tabbed Second in Baseball Coaches Preseason Regional Poll
Coming off its first CCCAA State Final Four Appearance in seven years, the El Camino College baseball team was tabbed as the No. 2 team in Southern California in the 2018 California Community College Baseball Coaches Association SoCal Preseason Poll.
With the 2018 season slated to begin in late January, the Warriors were picked second with 206 points and three first-place votes, just five points back of No. 1 Orange Coast College with 211 points and four first-place votes. Cypress (169), defending CCCAA Champions Grossmont (164, 3 first place votes) and Long Beach (141) round out the top-five spots.
"It's always exciting to have high expectations," Warriors head coach Nate Fernley said. "We can't wait for the spring to start."
The 2017 Warriors set new program records as they won 25 straight games at one point and posted a 40-win season. They secured the program's first conference title since 2010 and advanced to the CCCAA State Championships for the first time in seven years, finishing third overall and recording the first victory at the state championships under head coach Nate Fernley.
Along with numerous individual accolades on the field, the Warriors sent 12 student-athletes to the next level to continue their athletics careers and education.
Although next season's team will boast many new faces looking to replace those vacancies, the baseball team will look to continue the success from last year.
"We feel like there is a lot of talent with the incoming group," Fernley said. "We have a lot of talent to replace from last year's team but this group is working hard to get better."
The 2018 baseball season begins Jan. 26 when the Warriors travel to College of the Canyons.
2018 CCCBCA SoCal Preseason Poll
Rank. Team - Points (First Place Votes)
- Orange Coast - 211 (4)
- El Camino - 206 (3)
- Cypress - 169
- Grossmont - 164 (3)
- Long Beach - 141
- Riverside - 140
- L.A. Mission - 120
- Canyons - 119
- Palomar - 109
- Saddletback - 92
- Glendale - 84
- Santa Barbara - 83
- Santa Ana - 82
- Pasadena - 78
- Southwestern - 68
- Cuesta - 59
- Golden West - 48
- Moorpark - 45
- Chaffey - 36
- Citrus - 31