Thursday, January 25, 2024
by Thomas Lal

PORTLAND, Ore. –  Based on the 21-season history of Great Northwest Athletic Conference baseball, it is no shock to see 16-time regular season champion Western Oregon at the top of the 2024 GNAC Baseball Preseason Coaches Poll. What makes this year’s poll intriguing, however, is the Wolves’ slim one-point margin to second-place Northwest Nazarene after the two teams met in the GNAC Championships title decider a season ago.

Western Oregon leads the pack with 21 points and two first-place votes in the preseason poll and is the only team to receive multiple first-place votes. Second-place Northwest Nazarene picked up one first-place vote and 20 points while Central Washington and Montana State Billings tied for third with 13 points and one first-place vote apiece. Saint Martin’s rounds out the voting in fifth with eight points. The poll marks just the third time since 2013 that the top three teams in the ranking have been covered by eight or fewer points.

Points awarded on a 5-4-3-2-1 basis

The first-place Wolves come into the season looking to pick up their third consecutive regular season title after securing their 16th with a 20-9 conference record last year (30-15 overall) and are also ranked No. 6 in the 2024 NCBWA West Region Preseason Poll. Along with the regular season title, the Wolves also captured their sixth GNAC Championships victory in 2023 by defeating Northwest Nazarene for the second year in a row. Western Oregon led the GNAC on the mound and at the plate a season ago, topping the conference with a .315 batting average and a 4.16 ERA.

As head coach Kellen Walker enters his 12th season at the helm of the program, he will look to players like senior outfielder Curran Mitzel to fill in for offensive power that came from brothers Derek and Jacob Maiben. Mitzel earned second team all-GNAC honors last season and is the top returning batter for WOU after hitting .360 to rank fifth in the conference and finish the year with 32 RBIs, six home runs, two triples and 10 doubles. Along with his bat-to-ball skills, Mitzel was one of the best in the league at picking his pitch, ranking second in the GNAC with a .452 on-base percentage.

The Wolves also return two of their top pitchers from last season in junior starter Dylan Chalmers and senior reliever Ryan Shipley. Both Chalmers and Shipley were all-conference selections in 2023, with Chalmers being named a first team honoree and Co-Pitcher of the Year while Shipley earned second team honors. Chalmers posted a 7-1 record to go with a 3.13 ERA through 12 appearances and 63.1 innings. Shipley, meanwhile, was one of the go-to arms later in the game for WOU, throwing 29 innings in relief while compiling a 2.48 ERA and allowing just five extra-base hits.

Northwest Nazarene sits just one point behind WOU at No. 2 in the preseason poll after going 17-15 in GNAC play (24-29 overall) to make it to the GNAC Championships final last season. The Nighthawks featured the No. 2 pitching rotation in the conference last year, posting a team ERA of 4.76. The NNU bullpen also topped the GNAC by striking out a staggering 415 batters, 120 more strikeouts than second-ranked WOU. Senior lefthander Jonathan Zayas is among the top returning pitchers for Northwest Nazarene after earning honorable mention all-conference last season with 46 of those strikeouts to go with a 4-4 record and 3.46 ERA.

Perhaps the biggest offensive returner for the Nighthawks is senior Duke Pahukoa in his third season for the team. Despite missing a considerable portion of the 2023 season due to injury, Pahukoa stepped back into the lineup and made an immediate impact last year to earn honorable mention all-conference. He finished the season with a .271 batting average to go along with 25 RBIs, 19 runs scored and six home runs. Also returning for NNU is sophomore infielder Kaleb Karpstein after earning second team all-GNAC honors a season ago. Karpstein appeared in all but six games for the Nighthawks last season, hitting .325 and racking up 40 hits, 22 RBIs and 19 runs scored.

After finishing third in the conference standings a season ago, Central Washington is predicted to be in the conversation for a GNAC Championships spot once again. The Wildcats went 16-15 in league play (22-29 overall) last year, using a run of seven wins in their last eight regular season games to lock in their postseason place. Head coach Desi Storey will look to veteran catcher Austin Ohland to lead the team once again as the Wildcats push for the postseason for a second straight year.

Ohland was one of the top batters in the conference last season, earning first team all-GNAC honors after batting .242 and owning a .444 slugging percentage. He was one of the most reliable batters for CWU with runners on base, racking up 34 RBIs on eight home runs, 10 doubles, and a triple while scoring 30 runs of his own. On the mound, Central Washington could look to senior pitcher Alex Brady to build into a starting role after making seven starts last season. Brady, a southpaw from Longview, Wash., compiled a 4-3 record last year to go with a 5.15 ERA and racked up a team-leading 38 strikeouts through 43.2 innings of work.

Montana State Billings is predicted to have a good chance at making the postseason this year after finishing its 2023 campaign fourth with a 12-18 GNAC record (21-27 overall). The Yellowjackets were the top power batting team in the conference last season, leading the league with a .479 slugging percentage. The ‘Jackets also led the GNAC in runs scored (355), hits (480), RBIs (328), doubles (104), triples (10), home runs (57) and total bases (775). Head coach Derek Waddoups will be able to go back to arguably the best power bat in the conference from 2023, Payton Flynn.

The senior outfielder from Kennewick, Wash., earned first team all-GNAC, ABCA/Rawlings All-West Region first team and D2CCA All-West Region second team honors a season ago after he led the conference with 14 home runs, 46 RBIs, 123 total bases and a .728 slugging percentage. The offensive production also put Flynn on the 2024 NCBWA NCAA DII Preseason West Region Team heading into a season where MSUB is looking to make it back to the GNAC Championships. The ‘Jackets also return their go-to starting pitcher from last season, Jackson Betancourt. The lefthander was a workhorse for MSUB last year, throwing 65.2 innings across 13 appearances and 12 starts. He finished the campaign with a 3-7 record, 6.44 ERA and 61 strikeouts.

Saint Martin’s rounds out the poll at No. 5 after a 2023 campaign where the Saints went 11-19 in conference play (15-29 overall). Senior pitcher Justice Yamashita well be a welcome returning starter for SMU after being one of the best in the GNAC last year. Yamashita earned first team all-GNAC selection for the second consecutive season after posting a 4.46 ERA, a 5-5 record and 64 strikeouts through 66.2 innings of work. Yamashita’s ERA, innings pitched and strikeouts all ranked second in the league while he also led the conference with five complete games.

With the departure of 2023 GNAC Freshman of the Year Brady Bean to Division I University of Portland, the Saints will look to junior outfielder Damon Ingram and junior infielder Alohi Arecchi as the top returning bats for 2024. Ingram featured in just 28 games last season, but posted a .297 batting average while driving in 26 runs to lead the team. Ingram also led the team with five home runs and a .595 slugging percentage. Arecchi, meanwhile, appeared in all but two games for SMU, including 40 starts. He finished the season hitting .281 while racking up 15 RBIs and 11 doubles.

The 2024 GNAC baseball season kicks off on Thursday, Feb. 1 with Central Washington, Saint Martin’s, Northwest Nazarene and Western Oregon all in action in California. Montana State Billings will also begin its 2024 campaign in the Golden State two days later. The conference slate will begin on Friday, March 1 with a rematch of last year’s GNAC Championships final between WOU and NNU in Nampa. The complete conference schedule for 2024 can be found online here.