La Roche College, winners of four of the past five AMCC championship titles, is expected to defend their conference crown, according to league coaches. Penn St. Behrend was selected to finish second, while coaches look for Mount Aloysius to take third this season.
La Roche senior outfielder Luis Navedo has been tabbed as the 2017 AMCC Preseason Player of the Year. Navedo was a 2017 D3Baseball Preseason All-American first team honoree and was named to the 2016 D3Baseball All-American honorable mention team. He was a first team selection for D3Baseball Mid-East All-Region, ABCA/Rawlings Mid-East All-Region, and the AMCC. He was also named to the prestigious D3Baseball Team of the Week in 2016. Navedo finished 2016 as tops in the AMCC in slugging percentage (.758) and ranked second in batting average (.412), on base percentage (.513), doubles (19) and home runs (10). He also ranked third in the AMCC in total bases (116) and fourth in runs (49).
La Roche junior pitcher Regis Sauer has been named the Preseason Pitcher of the Year. Sauer was named to the D3Baseball and ABCA/Rawlings Mideast All-Region second team in 2016, as well as being named to the AMCC all-conference second team. Sauer led the AMCC in with nine wins, ranked second in starts (13) and innings pitched (82.1), and third in the AMCC in ERA (2.62).
The AMCC tournament will begin with first round play on May 6-7, followed by the championship round May 11-14 at the site of the number one seed. The winner will earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament.
Click here for the complete preseason rankings and players to watch..