Baseball Picked Second In G-MAC Coaches Poll - Season Preview

2024 G-MAC PRESEASON POLL

MIDLAND, MICH. – The Northwood University baseball team has been picked to finish second in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) Preseason Coaches Poll, which was released Thursday (January 25).

Northwood had 144 points in the poll to go with three first place votes. Ashland was the favorite with 145 points and six first place votes, while Trevecca Nazarene was third with 142 points and three first place votes.

The Timberwolves took home the G-MAC regular season and tournament titles in their first season in the conference. NU finished the year 42-19 overall and 27-5 in the G-MAC

Northwood will open their 2024 season at Montevallo February 16.

SEASON PREVIEW

By Hudson Harkness

The Northwood University baseball team, the reigning Great Midwest Champions, are ready for the 2024 season with new leadership.

Last season, Northwood finished 42-19 with a G-MAC regular season and tournament title in their first season in the conference. The 2024 team will have a new look starting with the Head Coach Brad Baldwin. An assistant coach for Northwood last season, Baldwin was elevated to Head Coach following the departure of former coach Jake Sabol to Central Michigan University. The departure came after a historic season for the Timberwolves in 2023. Baldwin has been on staff since 2019 as the infield coach.

"I am very pleased with how the guys have responded to the change to not just myself but the entire staff," said Baldwin.

The Timberwolves will have a strong offense as they return four all-conference position players, Blake Salamon (catcher/designated hitter), Matt Magno (catcher/designated hitter), Alex Cole (first base), and Myles Beale (outfield). The key losses for the team are Jacob Rybicki (centerfield), Rhett Evans (second base), and David Jeffers (shortstop),

The infield brings back Alex Cole at first base and Joey Johnston as starters at first and third. Sophomore Josh Getz and Quincy University transfer Logan Voth are among the players in line that could the positions vacated by Evans and Jeffers.

Even with the exit of Rybicki, the outfield features a large group of veteran players. In addition to Beale, Ben Clark, Caden Duryea and Evan Wiegand each started at least 17 games last season.  A potential name that could find their way into the lineup would be Drew Charters. The Mid-Michigan Community College transfer comes into Midland as the career leader in hits for the Lakers. Coach Baldwin is looking to lean on that experience at every position, The experienced Timberwolves return 62% of their hits and 64% of their RBIs from 2023.

Northwood's pitching staff was one of the tops in the country last season ranking fourth in K/BB Ratio at 2.81 and 20th in ERA with 4.31. The expectations for the Timberwolves are high, but it will not be easy with several key departures. Northwood lost 59% of their innings pitched from 2023 with the transfer of All-American, Derek Clark and two all-conference selections in Zach Abbey and Jayden Dentler. Out of the returning pitchers, 59% of the innings come from Kendall Anthes, Jake Carroll, and Jake Jekielek. Coach Baldwin is excited for Matt DeFay, Tyler Sager, and Dominic Mauro this season on the bump. Another name to watch on the rubber will be Grant LaMarche. LaMarche's biggest performance of his career was the G-MAC Tournament Championship game when he went six innings to secure title. Sager and DeFay also have experience both pitching 20+ innings a season ago.

"There will be a time this season where we will be challenged as a group, and I think having those experienced players lead us is important not only for those guys but for the young guys," said Baldwin.