TRAFFORD, Pa. (pacathletics.org) - Washington & Jefferson College, who has captured five consecutive conference championships, was chosen as the favorite to win the 2025 Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) title when the preseason baseball coaches' poll, along with the PAC Players to Watch list, was announced Wednesday.

The annual preseason poll collects votes from each of the league's 11 head coaches.

Guided by 23rd-year head coach Jeff Mountain, W&J totaled nine first-place votes and 99 points to secure the top spot in this year's polling. The Presidents won their fifth league crown in a row, the 12th claimed by W&J under Mountain, and 16th conference title in program history last year. After clinching the top seed for the PAC Tournament, the Presidents went 4-0, capping their run with a 4-2 title-game triumph over Grove City College to wrap up the championship.

Mountain, who was voted the PAC Coach of the Year for the 12th time following the year, led the Presidents into the NCAA Regionals for the 11th time in program history. W&J went 2-2 in the Cortland Regional, highlighted by victories over Colby College (7-0) and Cortland (3-1).

Last year's PAC runner-up, Grove City College, with ninth-year head coach Matt Royer at the helm, finished second in the poll after amassing 89 points with one first-place vote. Allegheny College and eighth-year head coach Brandon Crum earned third in the voting with 82 points and one first-place vote.

Westminster College, who took third in last spring's PAC Tournament, claimed fourth in the preseason poll with 67 points. The Titans just edged out Waynesburg University, who secured 65 points to come in fifth. Chatham University placed sixth with 60 points, followed by Thiel College in seventh (43), Saint Vincent College in eighth (41), Geneva College (26) in ninth, Bethany College (17) and Franciscan University (16).

The Players to Watch list is highlighted with 30 who were recognized with All-PAC laurels in 2024, including nine who earned First Team honors. Among the nine First Team selections back this year are two major award winners from 2024, including last year's Player of the Year in W&J senior shortstop Jacob LaDuca and the Newcomer of the Year in Grove City sophomore utility player Sam Bevin. 

LaDuca became the fourth consecutive President to win Player of the Year after he batted .366 while leading the circuit with 59 runs scored and ranking second with 68 hits. LaDuca slugged four home runs, 12 doubles, two triples, drove in 31 to rank third on the team and stole 21 bases, which ranked fourth in the conference. His fielding was also top-notch again, as LaDuca had a PAC-high 172 assists and committed just seven errors in 241 total chances for a .971 fielding percentage.

LaDuca raised his game to another level in PAC games, batting.438 (35-80) during the regular season against conference teams. Then in the PAC Tournament, his tie-breaking two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning provided the winning margin in a 4-2 win over Grove City in the title game. Including his clutch homer, LaDuca finished the Tournament 7-for-16 (.438) with two home runs, five RBIs and nine runs scored, as he earned Most Outstanding Player in the Tournament for the second year in a row.

Bevin's top Newcomer award now marks three consecutive such honors for the Grove City program, which includes the 2023 Newcomer of the Year in Wolverine junior outfielder Nick Sampson. Bevin had a strong showing on the hill and at the plate. As a pitcher, he tied for tops in the league with seven wins, while ranking fourth in batting average against (.227), fifth in strikeouts (59) and sixth in innings pitched (74.1).  

At the plate, Bevin batted .361 with three home runs, 12 doubles, four triples and 25 RBIs. His four triples tied for second in the conference and he also tied for third in runs scored (48), while ranking sixth in walks (25), eighth in OPS (1.018) and slugging percentage (.558) and 10th in stolen bases (11). Bevin also earned All-Tournament Team after batting .545 (12-22) with eight runs scored and four RBI in Grove City's five postseason games.

The 2025 PAC Championship Tournament, a six-team, double-elimination tournament, is scheduled to begin Wednesday, May 7 and run through Saturday, May 10. The tournament will be hosted at W&J's Ross Memorial Park

The PAC Championship Tournament winner will earn the conference’s automatic qualifying bid to the NCAA Division III Championship. Selections for the Division III Championship are scheduled to be announced Monday, May 12 with regional preliminary round play slated for Friday-Sunday, May 16-18. Regional champions will compete in the Super Regionals, a best-of-three series, to determine the eight participants in this year’s Division III College World Series, scheduled for Friday-Thursday, May 30-June 5. The Division III College World Series will be held at Classic Park in Eastlake, Ohio. 
 

2025 PAC Baseball Preseason Coaches' Poll
School (first-place votes)	Points	2024 Records
1. W&J (9)	99	34-14, 16-4 PAC
2. Grove City (1)	89	27-14, 15-5 PAC
3. Allegheny (1)	82	26-15, 14-6 PAC
4. Westminster	67	20-22, 11-9 PAC
5. Waynesburg	65	23-19, 15-5 PAC
6. Chatham	60	18-21, 9-11 PAC
7. Thiel	43	15-24, 10-10 PAC
8. Saint Vincent	41	11-25, 8-12 PAC
9. Geneva	26	16-20, 6-14 PAC
10. Bethany	17	10-28, 3-17 PAC
11. Franciscan	16	10-26, 3-17 PAC

2025 PAC Baseball Players to Watch
1 = 2024 First Team All-PAC / 2 = Second Team / HM = Honorable Mention

Allegheny
Name	Yr.	Pos.	Hometown/High School
Tyson Bryant-Dawson (1)	Sr.	OF/P	Oakland, Calif./Manvel (Texas)
Matt Jennings (1)	Sr.	OF/P	Birmingham. Mich./Brother Rice
JD Robinson (2)	Sr.	SS	Round Hill, Va./Woodgrove
Mark Schweickert (HM)	Sr.	P	Richmond, Va./John Randolph Tucker
Dawson Thomas (HM)	So.	P	Espyville, Pa./Conneaut Area

 

Bethany
Name	Yr.	Pos.	Hometown/High School
Gian Degenova	So.	3B/1B	Wheeling, W.Va./Wheeling Park
Trey Mantle (HM)	Grad.	P	Groveport, Ohio/Groveport Madison
Jaden Nestor-Fox	Jr.	IF	Vermilion, Ohio/Vermilion
Nick Roell (HM)	Sr.	OF/P	Pittsburgh, Pa./Seton LaSalle
Josh Speaker (HM)	Grad.	IF/P	Steubenville, Ohio/Indian Creek

 

Chatham
Name	Yr.	Pos.	Hometown/High School
Carter Beneigh (HM)	Sr.	P	Zelienople, Pa./Seneca Valley
Jake Bredl	5th	OF/3B	Pittsburgh, Pa./Shaler
Tyler Cote	Sr.	1B/C/P	Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills
Angelo DeLeonardis (2)	Jr.	C/UT	Saxonburg, Pa./Knoch
Peter Tadic (2)	Jr.	OF	Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic

 

Franciscan
Name	Yr.	Pos.	Hometown/High School
Josiah Bodie	Fr.	OF	Pawleys Island, S.C./Waccamaw
Peter Falconite	Grad.	2B	Lincroft, N.J./Christian Brothers Academy
John Fusco	Fr.	OF	Naples, Fla./Saint John Neumann
Andrew Heidemann	Sr.	P	Fort Worth, Texas/The Highlands School
Wade Stoehr (HM)	Sr.	3B/P	Lewisville, Ohio/Monroe Central

   

Geneva
Name	Yr.	Pos.	Hometown/High School
Kirk Bearjar (2)	Jr.	DH/1B	Summerville, Pa./Forest Hills
Caleb Graft (2)	Sr.	P	East Liverpool, Ohio/Heartland Christian
Zack Sackett (1)	Sr.	C	Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park

 

Grove City
Name	Yr.	Pos.	Hometown/High School
Sam Bevin (1)	So.	IF/P	Louisville, Ky./Wake County
David Leslie	Sr.	P	Butler, Pa./Butler
Josh Minnich (1)	Sr.	OF	Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley
Nick Sampson	Jr.	OF	Venetia, Pa./Peters Township
Luke Vittone (2)	Sr.	SS	Seven Fields, Pa./Eden Christian

 

Saint Vincent
Name	Yr.	Pos.	Hometown/High School
Tyler Dancu	Grad.	P	Irwin, Pa./Hempfield
LJ Evans	Sr.	OF	New Brighton, Pa./Our Lady of the Sacred Heart
Derek Hald	Sr.	C	Apollo, Pa./Kiski Area
Jeremy Kreuzwieser	Grad.	P	Canfield, Ohio/Ursuline
Alex Polito (HM)	Sr.	P	Manheim, Pa./Lancaster Country Day School

 

Thiel
Name	Yr.	Pos.	Hometown/High School
Ethan Bintrim (HM)	Sr.	1B/P	New Castle, Pa./Shenango
Colton Brightwell	Jr.	OF	Eighty Four, Pa./Bentworth
Nick Jacobs (1)	Sr.	1B/3B	New Castle, Pa./Union
Alec Katon (HM)	Grad.	P	Ashtabula, Ohio/Edgewood
Cole Sherwin	Jr.	SS	Karns City, Pa./Karns City

 

W&J
Name	Yr.	Pos.	Hometown/High School
Dante DiMatteo (HM)	Sr.	P	Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel
Drew Garth (1)	Sr.	OF	Glenshaw, Pa./North Hills (Seton Hill)
Jacob LaDuca (1)	Sr.	SS	Clarence, N.Y./Canisius
Ethan Marszalek	Sr.	P	Katy, Texas/Seven Lakes
Scout Zaas (1)	Sr.	OF	Powell, Ohio/Wellington School

 

Waynesburg
Name	Yr.	Pos.	Hometown/High School
Mike Bell (HM)	Grad.	IF/DH	Herminie, Pa./Yough
Garrett Comer	So.	UTL	St. Albans, W.Va./St. Albans
Alec Engelmore (HM)	Sr.	UTL	Pittsburgh, Pa./Shaler
Dalton Lucey (2)	Jr.	P	Waynesburg, Pa./West Greene
Gavin Pratt	Sr.	P	Carmichaels, Pa./Carmichaels

 

Westminster
Name	Yr.	Pos.	Hometown/High School
Kolton Banfi (2)	Grad.	RHP	Harrisville, Pa./Franklin
Braeden Campbell	Sr.	IF	Glenshaw, Pa./Shaler
Chris Davis	Sr.	OF	San Francisco, Calif./Stuart Hall
Ryan Gibbons	Sr.	P	Ellwood City, Pa./Lincoln
Logan Murgenovich	Grad.	IF	Aliquippa, Pa./Central Valley