College Pre-Season Rankings

[DuecesWild2]

Throughout the season, I will follow and rank the in state teams. Previously I did a ranking of where I see those teams in the future, this however is my rankings for this season.

Division I

1. South Carolina
2. USC Upstate
3. Coastal Carolina
4. Winthrop
5. College of Charleston
6. Charleston Southern
7. Furman
8. Presbyterian
9. South Carolina State

Division II

1. Anderson
2. Limestone
3. Francis Marion
4. Newberry
5. USC-Aiken
6. Erskine
7. Claflin
8. North Greenville
9. Coker
10. Lander
11. Southern Wesleyan
12. Benedict

NAIA

1. USC-Beaufort
2. Columbia College
3. Morris
4. Voorhees

NJCAA

1. Spartanburg Methodist
2. USC-Sumter
3. Florence-Darlington Tech
4. USC-Salkehatchie

 

[anobody]

Just wondering what info you used to rank these teams. Some of these teams finished with great years last year, but graduated most of their starters and will be a whole new team this season. For example Anderson graduated 6 starters and USC Aiken graduates their number 1 go to pitcher. Erskine will start up to 6 freshman, North Greenville lost their number one pitcher and have a bunch of freshman, and i'm sure the new info goes on and on.....so who really knows at this point what will happen,.and I am also sure that what the rankings look like in Feb, will nto be what they look like in April when most of these teams have had time to mature and grow. Also, what about strength of schedule?

 

[DuecesWild2]

You are right, Division II is hard to do based on the fact of you don't know what the Freshman are really capable of at this point given they have not played a regular season game, trust me fall ball is much different from regular season.

With Anderson being #1, I liked them because they return Molly Child (.405, 14 HR, 53 RBI), Jessica Neidigh (.376, 6 HR, 25 RBI, 26 SB), Courtney Czentar (.313, 11 HR, 42 RBI), Rebecca Martin (.313, 7 HR,20 RBI), and Bri Cason (.287, 3 HR, 29 RBI). They are going to be a team that is going to drop a lot of bombs, then on the mound the return Lauren Rudesheim (16-4, 2.48 ERA) who will be their ace this year to go along with Augie Pena (8-2, 3.59 ERA) and Freshman, Chelsea Jones.

Limestone returns a lot from a team that finished with a good season last year so that is why they are my #2,

Francis Marion at #3 was a tough pick but I think they are a team who finished in the middle of the pack last year in the Peach Belt which is a great conference, I think if they good off to a good start in non conference play then they can have a good year, if they don't then uh oh.

Newberry is a team that I think has potential to have a good season, they return a lot of starters and will be battle tested early with a tough non conference slate

USC-Aiken did lose Kornegay but they still have Morgan there who I believe can get them to middle of the pack in the Peach Belt, once again early on will tell how good they are.

You mentioned Erskine, people are talking how impressed they are with Erskine on this message board and all over the place so that is why I ranked them so high, I think just like others they will find out how good they are early on.

Claflin at #7, I wanted to rank them higher but I want to see them play somebody, I like the Kinard guy and the job he has done recruiting there. They return 7 of 9 starters from a 43-8 team, but we will find out on February 15 how good they are when they travel to Newberry.

North Greenville and Coker are in the same boat, losing some of their best players who carried them and going through a rebuilding year in my opinion, I look for both of them to struggle a little bit this season.

Lander didn't look bad in the fall, but that was the fall and they have some points to prove before they get my vote to move up.

Southern Wesleyan, I don't know about the hire they made and how well she can do in her first year, they didn't bring a whole lot in and they weren't very good last year.

Benedict, do not play a tough non conference schedule so they will not be battle tested until they play Columbia College, but I do not expect much from them, from what I heard they do not have a pitcher who throws over 55.

 

[NA_JACKET]

Fall really doesn't mean much. Many of the coaches don't worry about the win column so the results don't always translate to failure or success in the spring. Anderson did lose 2 of the top 3 hitters. 25 homers and over 110 RBI with those two players. That is big shoes to fill with the young players they have. Molly Child is a beast that had D1 offers when she chose Anderson.

In D1 no way I see Winthrop at 4. Kenzi Corn is a huge loss for them. Both Charleston programs are a little better especially at the end of last season. Furman is in a mess with pitching unless they found a transfer after fall.

Currently until someone proves it Upstate is the top team in SC. This could be the year it flips with young players USC has coming in. I am looking forward to seeing Haley Copeland at USC. Upstate lost its top pitcher but they still have arms that can get it done.

I hope all the instate schools have a big year!!

 

[anobody]

My previous comment was based on the fact that I do not think anyone can rank pre-season without all the facts of who a team lost and gained. Anderson, Erskine, Lander, and North Greenville are just a few teams on the list that will depend on freshman for their success,and you never know how long it will take even a very talented freshman to become an impact player. Upstate is the most solid team and returns the most in Div 1.USC will continue to get better, Winthrop will depend on new comers and players stepping up. I thought PC looked solid for the fall,,,they will have a good year. But its not who starts tough , its who finishes,,so we shall see what ( or who) has floated to the top in April.

 

[NA_JACKET]

Erskine and Anderson both return pitchers and that is always a big deal. I really like the incoming Fr pitcher at Limestone. PC returns all of its starters from last season. They had a key injury to one of those starters that missed the fall season. If that players returns to form it will help and there is a least one Fr hitter that will help.