The St. Andrews Knights baseball team was voted to finish in ninth place of the AAC Preseason Poll on Wednesday. Here, Noah Sorrells throws a pitch during a game last season against Milligan at Clark Field in Laurinburg.
File Photo
LAURINBURG —The St. Andrews Knights baseball team came in ninth place of the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) preseason poll that was released on Wednesday afternoon. Tennessee Wesleyan was named the favorite to win the 2025 AAC Baseball Championship after winning the conference tournament championship in 2024. The results of the poll were determined by votes from the baseball coaches of the AAC.
Tennessee Wesleyan received eight first-place votes for a total of 140 voting points to claim the top spot in the poll. Reinhardt picked up the remaining five first-place votes and a total of 137 points to land in second place. The Eagles won the 2024 regular-season championship with a 25-5 league record.
Places three through five in the poll consist of Milligan (118 points), Johnson (97 points) and Pikeville (95 points). The top 10 teams in the conference’s regular season standings will advance to the 2025 AAC Tournament, which is set to happen over a five-day period from Tuesday, April 29 through Saturday, May 3 at Hunter Wright Stadium in Kingsport, Tennessee.
The full results from the 2025 AAC Baseball Coaches’ Preseason Poll are found below. The list is in the format of: Rank. Team – Total Points (1st-Place Votes).
1. Tennessee Wesleyan – 140 (8)
2. Reinhardt – 137 (5)
3. Milligan – 118
4. Johnson – 97
5. Pikeville – 95
6. Bryan – 94
7. Montreat – 87
8. Bluefield – 61
9. St. Andrews – 59
10. Union Commonwealth – 45
11. Columbia International – 34
12. Truett McConnell – 33
13. Kentucky Christian – 13
The Knights are coming off of a 2024 season where they went 27-21 overall and 13-15 against conference opponents. They were defeated by Bluefield in the first round of last season’s conference tournament in a 7-3 final.
The team is set to add a lot of new pieces for the 2025 season, with 18 freshmen (some true and some redshirt) currently listed on the team’s roster. The team’s schedule for the upcoming season has not yet been made available. Their first two games last season took place via a doubleheader on Feb. 3, when they were defeated by Lindsey Wilson twice.