NORTH BOSTON, N.Y. - La Roche baseball was voted to finish the 2020 season in first place in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll as announced by the AMCC Monday afternoon.
Including last season, the Redhawks have won an astounding six straight league titles and seven of the last eight. Former Head Coach Chase Rowe, who left La Roche earlier this year to coach in the MiLB, was at the helm for all seven championships.
In 2019, the Redhawks compiled a 30-15 overall record and a 16-2 mark in regular season conference play, finishing four games ahead of the second place teams, Penn St. Altoona, Penn St. Behrend, and Mt. Aloysius, who all finished with a 12-6 AMCC record.
La Roche defeated all three teams in the conference postseason by a combined score of 24-4. After winning the AMCC Championship, LRU went on to NCAA D-III Regionals where they lost to Denison (4-0) and Adrian (6-4).
Led by first year interim head coach Sean Lubin, who served four years as an assitant under coach Rowe and played for him all throughout college at La Roche, the Redhawks are looking to stick to the script as they go for their seventh straight conference title.
Named as "Players to Watch" in the AMCC Preseason Poll were Senior infielder Austin Hoffman and Senior relief pitcher Jake Seymour.
Austin Hoffman (Pittsburgh, PA/Moon) was a 2019 third team All-AMCC selection. Last season, he ranked in the top ten in the conference in at-bats (175), runs (43), hits (64), batting average (.366), doubles (16), triples (4), walks (22), and on base percentage (.459). On the defensive end, Hoffman was just as valuable, leading the AMCC in assists (125) and double plays (31).
Jake Seymour (Allison Park, PA/Hampton) was a 2019 first team All-AMCC selection. Seymour finished 2019 with a 3-2 overall record and a 2.84 ERA in conference play. He pitched 38.0 innings where he struck out 44 batters and only walked nine while allowing just 39 hits, 14 earned runs and one home run. Posted an impressive 10.42 strikeouts per nine innings ratio in his junior campaign and his strikeout total ranked eighth in the AMCC last season.
To view the complete 2020 AMCC Preseason Coaches' Poll, click here.
La Roche baseball plays their season opener on Sunday, February 23rd when they travel to Berea, OH to face Baldwin Wallace at 9:00 a.m. The Redhawks home opener will happen nearly a month later on Saturday, March 21st in a double-header against conference foe Pitt Bradford at the Baierl Athletic Complex on La Roche's campus.