The 2020 baseball season get under way on Friday and the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference sports information directors convened for a preseason prognostication.  The SID's voted San Diego Mesa College as the favorites to capture the PCAC crown in 2020.

Mesa edged out Southwestern College and Palomar College in earning the preseason nod.  The Olympians finished in a tie with Southwestern for the title a year ago, finishing 28-15-1 overall and 19-5 in PCAC play.  Mesa made it to the Southern California Regional Playoffs where they defeated Golden West College in a three-game series before falling to Glendale College in the Super Regionals. 

Mesa lost a ton of talent from the 2019 squad, but welcomes back four players that made the All-PCAC Honorable Mention Team.  Infielders Kevin Van Linge and Jorge Martines along with catcher Joel Escalante and pitcher Dylan Weese should provide a ton of experience for the Olympians while getting the youngsters ready for another run at a title.  Van Linge led the team in hits (60) a season ago while finishing with a .337 average for the year.  Martinez was a rock in the infield, making just five errors in 337 total chances.  Escalante was solid all-around, batting .289 for the season while catching for one of the better pitching staffs in the conference.  Weese started 13 games in 2019, finishing 4-4 with a 3.28 ERA.

Southwestern earned one first place vote in the poll and finished tied with Palomar in the voting, two points back of Mesa.  The Jaguars finished tied in conference play with Mesa last season and were 21-17 overall for the year.  Southwestern qualified for the Southern California Regional Tournament but had an early exit after falling to Los Angeles Mission College in the play-in round.  Much like Mesa, Southwestern lost a lot from the 2019 squad but has a nice nucleus of talent returning to push the agenda.  Outfielder Ryan Major along with infielder Gavin Mestes and pitcher Alejandro Celicio return, giving the Jaguars leaders in all areas on the field. 

Palomar College finished tied with Southwestern in the voting, garnering one first place vote.  The Comets finished 26-11-1 overall and 17-7 in PCAC play, missing out on the playoffs despite having a solid squad.  Palomar returns All-PCAC First Team outfielder Noah Hemphill along with honorable mention selections Jaisten Cabatbat (IF) and Evan Ianniciello (1B) for what should be one of the better defenses in the conference.  Hemphill batted .366 during his freshman campaign while Ianniciello had just one error at first base and Cabatbat had a .977 fielding percentage.  The Comets will be young on the mound, as Gavin Kinney is the lone returning guy from the 2019 squad after pitching only 4+ innings last season.  Palomar did get some nice additions to the staff, however, as Christian Lewis bounced back from Colorado-Colorado Springs and Trevor Riley bounced back from New Mexico. 

PCAC PRESEASON SID'S POLL