Catawba Picked as 2026 SAC Baseball Preseason Favorite
ROCK HILL, S.C. (TheSAC.com) – After capturing back-to-back SAC Regular Season titles, the Catawba Indians have been picked as the 2026 South Atlantic Conference baseball preseason favorite, the league office announced today. Catawba received seven first-place votes from the conference's head baseball coaches and 126 total points.
Fresh off an appearance in the National Semifinals, Lenoir-Rhyne was voted in at No. 2 with four first-place votes and 122 total points, while Carson-Newman earned the No. 3 spot with 112 points.
Wingate placed fourth in the poll with 102 points, followed by Coker at No. 5 with 87 points. Lincoln Memorial was voted No. 6 with one first-place vote and 78 points, while Newberry earned the No. 7 position with 71 points.
UVA Wise came in at No. 8 with 70 points, while Anderson placed ninth with 56 points. Tusculum was selected 10th with 45 points, followed by Mars Hill at No. 11 with 28 points and Emory & Henry rounding out the poll at 12th with 27 points.
In addition to the preseason coaches' poll, the SAC announced its 2026 Preseason All-Conference Team. Lenoir-Rhyne's Mackenzie Wainwright, Anderson's Braeden Harrison, and Catawba's Sam Hunter were named first team selections in the outfield. Carson-Newman placed two in the infield with Logan Floyd earning honors at first base and Cole Nathan at second base.
Catawba's Nathan Chrismon was selected at shortstop and Mars Hill's Terick Bumgarner earned first-team honors at third base. Lenoir-Rhyne's Nathan Kidder was named first-team catcher, while Catawba's Sean Shelly earned the designated hitter spot.
On the mound, Kolton Casson of Carson-Newman, Kemper Nix of Catawba, and Kellen Gradisar of Lenoir-Rhyne were named first team starting pitchers, while Ryan Whitson of UVA Wise earned first-team honors as the relief pitcher.
In addition, the Players to Watch from each program have been announced. Teams get a maximum of six players to highlight combined between Preseason All-Conference and the Players to Watch list.
First pitch for the 2026 season will take place on Friday, January 30. For a full schedule of games, visit www.thesac.com.
2026 Baseball Preseason Coaches' Poll
| Rank | School (First Place Votes) | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Catawba (7) | 126 |
| 2 | Lenoir-Rhyne (4) | 122 |
| 3 | Carson-Newman | 112 |
| 4 | Wingate | 102 |
| 5 | Coker | 87 |
| 6 | Lincoln Memorial (1) | 78 |
| 7 | Newberry | 71 |
| 8 | UVA Wise | 70 |
| 9 | Anderson | 56 |
| 10 | Tusculum | 45 |
| 11 | Mars Hill | 28 |
| 12 | Emory & Henry | 27 |
2026 SAC Baseball Preseason All-Conference
Outfield
OF – Mackenzie Wainwright, Lenoir-Rhyne
OF – Braeden Harrison, Anderson
OF – Sam Hunter, Catawba
Infield
1B – Logan Floyd, Carson-Newman
2B – Cole Nathan, Carson-Newman
SS – Nathan Chrismon, Catawba
3B – Terick Bumgarner, Mars Hill
Catcher / DH
C – Nathan Kidder, Lenoir-Rhyne
DH – Sean Shelly, Catawba
Pitchers
SP – Kolton Casson, Carson-Newman
SP – Kemper Nix, Catawba
SP – Kellen Gradisar, Lenoir-Rhyne
RP – Ryan Whitson, UVA Wise
Players to Watch
Anderson: Mac Ketchin, Zach Stover, Walker Noland, Dom Bello, Levi Medford
Carson-Newman: Johno Pierce, Bradley Soto Diaz, Jackson Underwood
Catawba: Matthew Connolly, Casey Gouge
Coker: Casey Cleghorn, Rocco Wojcik, Peter Adams, Gavin Johnson, Owen Brockner, Patrick Larson
Emory & Henry: Jacob Nester, Jaret Hoppes, Kyle Fields, Drew Lanzo, Rhett Barker, Ky Gregoire
Lenoir-Rhyne: Seth Christmas, Mike Joyce, Matt Procopio
Lincoln Memorial: Brooks Hagedorn, Easton Barnett, Alex Kowalski, Brady Morse, Eli Edds, Caleb Jordan
Mars Hill: Peyton Starkey, Chapel Matson, Austin Kutz, Mel Rubiera
Newberry: Jacob Clark, Keilor Osbon, Andrew Peck, Bryson Nuckols
Tusculum: Ryan Ortega, Mason Johnson, Evan Cage, Owen Canter, Brice Anders, Walker Pedante
UVA Wise: Jacob Boyle, Houston Sarvis, Joshua Morgan
Wingate: Chad Harvey, Jake Courville, Gavin Groppuso, Jalen Evans, Will Farrell, Cam Harris