The William Woods University baseball team was picked to finish third in the American Midwest Conference. The conference office announced the AMC Preseason Coaches' Poll Thursday morning.
"We are returning 90% of our pitching from last year while bringing in three quality arms in Ian O'Malley, Karter Andersen and Jude Gremillion," William Woods second-year coach John Cavness stated in a press release. "Our goal with this recruiting class was to replace a very defensively talented infield group we had last year. We did that with the additions of Blain Tuepker, Tyler Horton, and freshman Taylor Hopkins. We added some depth behind the plate with Ryan Camerer. He will help with the workload on Kamron Morriss and Braden Lallier. Depth all around the diamond is a luxury I believe we have this year. We added to that depth by bringing in a good left-handed bat in, Matt Hanson, from Lindenwood University, at break.
"Overall, our leadership is a direct reflection on how our off-season and preseason has gone so far. Our coaching staff and myself have been impressed with how our guys have gone about their business. As always, our goal is to play the game at a high level while representing William Woods in a professional manner."
The Owls open the 2023 season at home with a three-game series versus Missouri Valley starting on Feb. 10.
The Owls finished last season with a 30-18 overall record. They finished regular season with a 14-7 mark in AMC play to finish tied for third.
Receiving votes Columbia received six of the conference's eight first-place votes to win the AMC poll. Missouri Baptist ranked second with the remaining two first-place votes, and WWU came in third with 34 points.