Trojans ranked 5th in Collegiate Baseball D2 preseason poll

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on December 30, 2013 1:47 PM

• Print
• Email

rcoggins@newsargus.com

MOUNT OLIVE -- The decade-long run remains intact.

Perennial powerhouse Mount Olive College is ranked No. 5 in the 2014 Collegiate Baseball NCAA Division II preseason top 40 poll for the 10th consecutive season.

The Trojans collected 617 points on ballots submitted by voters from the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA). Defending national champion Tampa (Fla.) holds the top spot, and is followed by Minnesota State-Mankato, St. Edwards (Texas) and 2011 national champion West Florida.

A mere 13 points separated the top five teams.

"Somehow they keep throwing us up there every year hoping that we'll fail," veteran MOC head coach Carl Lancaster laughed. "When people think that much of your program to put you number five in the country, it's kind of exciting to see if you can meet expectations.

"We just have to figure out who are going to be our leaders."

Mount Olive returns a pair of All-Americans -- outfielder Bradon Reitano and pitcher Alex Regan -- who helped the team compile a 48-8 record, and advance to the Southeast Regional for the fourth consecutive year.

Reitano earned first-team All-American accolades from the ABCA and National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA). He batted .361, swatted 10 home runs and ranked among the top six nationally in runs scored (65) and RBI (62).

Regan tied for first nationally with 14 wins and posted the highest winning percentage (.933) among pitchers with at least 10 victories on the bump last spring. He finished 25th nationally with a 1.81 earned run average (ERA).

Also back are Zak Orrison, Bretton Gouthro, Derek Justice and Chris Orphanos. The Trojans' starting second baseman, Orrison seized the 2013 Conference Carolinas freshman-of-the-year award after hitting .328 with 46 RBI. He swiped 20 bases in 26 attempts.

A junior designated hitter, Gouthro moved into the starting lineup late in the season and batted .333. Justice ate up innings out of the bullpen and posted a 4-2 record with one save.

Orphanos fashioned an 8-2 record with two saves and 3.91 ERA. The senior right-hander posted the 10th-highest strikeout-to-walk ratio in the nation last year with 64 strikeouts and just nine free passes.

"We're not built around offense, that's for sure," said Lancaster, who has 939 career wins in 27 seasons. "All of our returning guys seem to be a little better than they were, and they all had a good fall."

Lancaster welcomed three Division I transfers to the program in the fall -- former East Carolina teammates Tyler Joyner and Deshorn Lake, and Campbell University's Jordy Farthing. An Aflac All-American in high school, Lake pitched just six innings in two seasons with the Pirates.

After their season-opening, three-game road series at Winston-Salem State, the Trojans travel to USC Aiken for the three-day Prestige Appliance Classic. MOC will face Tampa, Shepherd (W. Va.) University and the host Pacers, who are ranked 14th in the preseason.

"Every (pro) scout in the country will be there," Lancaster said. "I expect it will be standing room only."