WNE Baseball Picked Third in CCC Preseason Poll

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (February 14, 2023) – The Western New England University baseball team sees themselves voted to finish third overall in the 2023 Commonwealth Coast Conference Preseason Poll, as voted on by the nine CCC member head coaches. WNE moves up two spots from 2022 and earned 13 more points than they did a season ago. 

Reigning CCC Rookie of the Year CJ Willis (Auburn, Mass.) returns for his sophomore season with the Golden Bears after connecting on a program record 14 home runs in a single season in 2022 while also leading the Golden Bears in nearly every offensive statistical category, including games played (40), runs scored (43), hits (68), doubles (11), home runs (14), RBIs (48), stolen bases (11), batting average (.398), on base percentage (.441) and slugging percentage (.743). Juniors in Cody Waterbury (Danbury, Conn.), Aaron Cole (Forestdale, Mass.), and Henry Schwoerer (Stamford, Conn.) and senior Sean Jamieson (New Fairfield, Conn.) will all return to the starting nine for Western New England this season. 

Graduate Student Kevin Hummer (Shrewsbury, Mass.), who supported a 2.86 ERA a season ago, will return to the hill at Trelease Park this season after recording a 5-2 record a season ago making one save while throwing a season high 63 IP. Hummer will be joined on the mount by sophomore Matt Lauria (East Haddam, Mass.), who made 12 appearances a season ago, as well as Jacob Hobart (Hudson, N.H.), who made eight starts for Western New England last year. Jared Kuryan (Madison, Conn.), Demitri Boulas (North Reading, Mass.), Andrew Chiodi (Ridgefield, Conn.) and Aidan Gowaski (Auburn, Mass.) are all expected to bolster the WNE bullpen, in hopes for taking the Golden Bears back to another CCC Championship series and capturing their first CCC Championship since 2018. 

Endicott was predicted to finish on top of the poll and repeat as CCC Champions, earning eight first place votes and 80 overall points. Salve Regina is slated second, earning one first place vote and 70 total points. With Western New England earning 56 total points and placing third in the coaches' poll, Roger Williams was predicted to finish fourth, earning 51 total points. Nichols College (48 points), Suffolk University (44 Points), Curry College (24 Points), Gordon College (21 Points), and Wentworth Institute of Technology (11 Points), round out the order of the 2023 CCC Preseason Poll. 

Western New England opens their 2023 schedule on Wednesday, March 1 at 3:00 PM when they travel to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). WNE will open their home schedule on Thursday, March 23 at 3:30 PM when Massachusetts Maritime Academy visits Trelease Park.