FOREST, Va. – The Old Dominion Athletic Conference released its 2022 baseball preseason coaches' poll on Tuesday, and Washington and Lee was picked seventh with 45 points.
Lynchburg topped the poll with eight first-place votes and 98 points, while Shenandoah garnered the final three first-place nods and 93 points to take second. Randolph-Macon tallied 79 points to come in third, and Roanoke (72 points) and Hampden-Sydney (64 points) rounded out the Top 5.
Bridgewater placed sixth with 53 points, followed by W&L, Eastern Mennonite (33 points), Ferrum (30 points), Virginia Wesleyan (28 points) and Guilford (10 points) to complete the poll.
The Generals finished the 2021 season with a 10-15 overall record and a 9-13 mark in the ODAC to qualify as the No. 7 seed for the ODAC Tournament.
W&L returns both of its All-ODAC honorees from a season ago in senior infielder
Chapin Bassi (Concord, N.H./St. Paul's School) and junior outfielder
Zach Perkins (Vienna, Va./James Madison). Bassi batted a team-high .465 a season ago, which ranked second in the ODAC and it was the third-highest single-season batting average in program history. Bassi finished the season as the team leader in on-base percentage (.524), slugging percentage (.746), hits (33) and stolen bases (6), while ranking tied for the team lead in total bases (53) with Perkins.
Bassi's strong junior campaign earned him Second Team All-ODAC, Second Team VaSID All-State and Third Team All-South Region accolades.
Perkins logged a .348 batting average last season and ranked second on the squad in both on-base percentage (.435) and slugging percentage (.576), while posting seven doubles, four triples, two home runs, 25 runs and 21 RBI. Perkins also worked 18.2 innings on the mound with a 1-1 record, one save and a 4.82 earned run average.
Perkins also made the All-ODAC Second Team, and he was once named to the D3baseball.com Team of the Week.
The Generals will begin the 2022 season on Saturday with a doubleheader at Averett. First pitch for game one is scheduled for 12:00 pm.
ODAC Baseball Preseason Coaches Poll
1. University of Lynchburg (8), 98 pts.
2. Shenandoah University (3), 93 pts.
3. Randolph-Macon College, 79 pts.
4. Roanoke College, 72 pts.
5. Hampden-Sydney College, 64 pts.
6. Bridgewater College, 53 pts.
7. Washington and Lee University, 45 pts.
8. Eastern Mennonite University, 33 pts.
9. Ferrum College, 30 pts.
10. Virginia Wesleyan University, 28 pts.
11. Guilford College, 10 pts.
