ATLANTA - Piedmont baseball has been picked second in the CCS Preseason Coaches Poll, released Thursday afternoon.

It was a a close race at the top, as the top four teams were separated by just five voting points and four teams received at least one first-place vote. 

Piedmont was narrowly behind first-place Belhaven, which received 31 total points and two first-place votes. The Lions tallied 29 points and also took home a pair of first-place votes.

LaGrange was also in the mix, with 29 points and a single first-place vote while Maryville added 26 points and also picked up two first-place votes.

After the top four, the point total dropped to 16 for Huntingdon in fifth place while Covenant (10) and CCS newcomer Asbury (7) round out the sixth and seventh spots in the poll.

After capturing the 2023 CCS Tournament title, the Lions were actually better in the regular season in 2024, with a 12-6 conference record, good for a third-place finish. Although they were unable to repeat as tournament champs, Piedmont does return a significant amount from last season's 25 win team.

Senior left-handed pitcher Zeke Swartz returns to anchor the pitching staff, having earned D3baseball.com Preseason All-America honors. 

The senior trio of Trace Cate, Kyle Carlson and Cole Ellis are back as lineup cornerstones with Cate coming off of a gold glove campaign in the outfield.

Piedmont is scheduled to head to the West Coast for a season-opening three-game series at Chapman, beginning next Friday, Feb. 14 at 5 p.m.
 

CCS PRESEASON BASEBALL POLL
1. Belhaven 31 pts (2)
2. Piedmont 29 pts (2)
3. LaGrange 28 pts (1)
4. Maryville 26 pts (2)
5. Huntingdon 16 pts
6. Covenant 10 pts
7. Asbury 7 pts