Catawba Earns Top Spot in 2025 South Atlantic Conference Baseball Preseason Poll; Preseason All-Conference Teams Announced

ROCK HILL, S.C. (TheSAC.com) – The Catawba Indians have been picked as the 2025 South Atlantic Conference baseball preseason favorite, the league office announced today. The Catawba Indians received ten first-place votes from the conference's head baseball coaches and 132 total points.  

The 2024 SAC Regular Season Champions, Catawba finished the year with a 46-17 record advancing to the NCAA National Semifinal. 

Wingate was voted in at No. 2 with 122 total points, while Lincoln Memorial earned the No. 3 spot with 111 points. 

Coker placed fourth in the poll with one first-place vote and 108 points, followed by Lenoir-Rhyne at No. 5 with a first-place vote and 102 points. Newberry was voted No. 6 with 93 points and one first-place vote.  

Carson-Newman earned the No. 7 slot with 87 points, while Tusculum earned 84 points in eighth and Anderson placed ninth with 53 points. Limestone came in at No. 10 with 44 points, followed by Mars Hill at No. 11 with 32 points. 

Rounding out the poll is UVA Wise at 12th with 28 points andEmory & Henry in 13th with 16 points. 

In addition to the preseason coaches' poll, the SAC announced its 2025 Preseason All-Conference teams. Catawba's Austin Fine and Payne Stolsworth, along with Lincoln Memorial's Christian Pencek were named first team starting pitchers. Catawba's Hayden Simmerson was named first-team reliever and Lenoir-Rhyne's Sal Carricato was named to the first team as the designated hitter. 

Lenoir-Rhyne's backstop Cole Stanford earned first-team honors at catcher and Anderson's Gray Wells was named first-team first baseman. Cam Harris of Wingate was named first-team at second base, Lincoln Memorial's Kasten Harvey earned first-team honors at third base and Tusculum's Ben Scartz was named the first team shortstop. 

Rounding out the first team selections are Catawba's Dylan Driver and Sam Hunter, with Lincoln Memorial's Chris Hall in the outfield. 

First pitch for the 2025 season will take place on Friday, January 31. For a full schedule of games visit www.thesac.com. 

2025 Baseball Preseason Poll 

All-SAC First Team 

OF – Dylan Driver, Catawba 

OF – Sam Hunter, Catawba 

 OF – Chris Hall, Lincoln Memorial 

1B – Gray Wells, Anderson 

2B – Cam Harris, Wingate 

SS – Ben Scartz, Tusculum 

3B – Kasten Harvey, Lincoln Memorial 

C – Cole Stanford, Lenoir-Rhyne 

DH – Sal Carricato, Lenoir-Rhyne 

SP – Payne Stolsworth, Catawba 

SP – Austin Fine, Catawba 

SP – Christian Pencek, Lincoln Memorial 

RP – Hayden Simmerson, Catawba 

All-SAC Second Team 

OF – Luke Compton, Newberry 

OF – Owen Blackledge, Lenoir-Rhyne 

OF – Kade Faircloth, Newberry 

1B – Logan Floyd, Carson-Newman 

2B – Cole Laskowski, Lenoir-Rhyne 

SS – Nick Badgett, UVA Wise 

3B – Jared Foley, Emory & Henry 

C – Jaylen Mack, Coker 

DH – Breon Ishmael, Wingate 

SP – Kelan Hoover, Wingate 

SP – Aaron Diaz, Coker 

SP – Carson Morton, Wingate 

RP – Tyler Satterley, Coker 

Players to Watch 

Elec Yount, Jr., INF, Mars Hill 

Carter Potts, So., INF, Mars Hill 

Sion Barnette, Sr., 3B, Limestone 

Peter Adams, Sr., SS, Limestone