ADRIAN, Mich. – The Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) announced the 2023 Baseball Preseason Coaches Poll on Tuesday afternoon. The Siena Heights baseball team was placed tenth in the 12-team standings after accumulating 39 points. The Saints finished last season with a 6-16 conference record and placed tenth in the standings after the regular season.
Siena Heights returns 2022 Golden Glove recipient Cole VanWasshenova. The Junior from South Rockwood, Michigan, led the Saints with two home runs, 10 doubles, and one triple. He was second on the team with 47 hits, totaling 20 RBIs and a .299 batting average.
SHU also returns Cameron Hammer who held a .331 battle average earning five doubles and six triples that brought in a total of 35 RBIs. Right fielder Adam Wilding returns to the Siena lineup with his .254 battle average from last year. As first-baseman, Kenny Layman rounds out the top returners for SHU. Layman held a .269 batting average earning 11 doubles, one home run, and 28 RBIs.
Matt Scally a redshirt Sophomore catcher for Siena Heights made the top newcomers list. Along with shortstop Nick Tiller a transfer from Jackson Community College.
"The poll followed the standings from last year. We will see how it plays out in March and April"
The preseason poll is voted on by the coaches in the league who rank each team in the WHAC from 1-12. Twelve points are given to the team at the top of the list, 11 points to the second-ranked team, and so on to determine the order of the poll.
2022 WHAC Tournament Champion, UNOH, claimed first in the preseason poll with 143 points after receiving 11 first-place votes. Lawrence Tech beat out WHAC Tournament runner-up Madonna for second in the standings with 121 points. Madonna University came in third with 120 points and one first-place vote. The remainder of the standing would follow how the teams finished last year at the end of regular season play. Fourth was Indiana Tech holding 108 points as Concordia (MI) was slotted in fifth totaling 101 points. Cleary (76 points), Cornerstone (74 points), and Lourdes (60 points) filled out the middle-of-the-pack standings leaving lots of room for movement in either direction. Aquinas, with 46 points, earned a ninth-place finish just seven points ahead of the Siena Heights University Saints in tenth with 39 points. Rochester (27 points) and UM-Dearborn (21 points) would finish out the twelve-team lineup.
Click here for the WHAC release of the 2023 Baseball Preseason Coaches Poll.
