| School |
(1st) |
Pts. |
'01 Overalll |
'01 NWC |
| Linfield College |
6 |
82 |
28-12 |
15-9 |
| George Fox University |
2 |
71 |
22-21 |
15-9 |
| Willamette University |
1 |
63 |
29-16 |
18-6 |
| Whitman College |
|
43 |
10-24 |
9-14 |
| Whitworth College |
|
43 |
20-20 |
15-7 |
| Pacific University |
|
42 |
18-21 |
12-12 |
| Pacific Lutheran University |
|
33 |
15-22 |
9-15 |
| University of Puget Sound |
|
20 |
13-26 |
9-15 |
| Lewis & Clark College |
|
17 |
8-25 |
4-19 |
(First-place votes in parenthesis. Points awarded on 10-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis).
Linfield Strongly Favored to Return to Baseball Pennent
Spokane, Wash. - Not much is expected to change in the fortunes of Northwest Conference baseball in 2002. The three schools that have won or shared the last ten NWC titles are again picked to finish at the top of this season's standings. And the school that has won the most is expected to win again.
Linfield College, which won five straight NWC titles from 1992-96 and last shared a conference title in 1999 with George Fox, is a strong favorite to retake the conference pennant in 2002 with six first place votes and 82 poll points. The Wildcats, who tied for third in the final standings last season, return six key position players and four key pitchers from 2001. Senior outfielder Chuck Banta returns after hitting .368 and driving in 37 rbi's last season. Three-sport letterman Luke Buchheit will return to the mound after leading the ‘Cats in appearances and posting a 3.77 ERA a year ago. Eight-time NWC Coach of the Year Scott Carnahan leads Linfield.
George Fox, which won its own title in 2000, picked up two first place votes and 71 poll points. The Bruins hope to return to the NWC title behind the hitting of All-NWC DH Eric Bell, who batted .410 with nine home runs and 41 rib's last year. Senior pitcher Glenn Boss, who led the league in saves last spring with six, also returns.
Defending conference champion Willamette had the final first place vote and totaled 63 poll points. The Bearcats will be without the services of two-time NWC Player of the Year Nik Lubisich, who went 10-3 with a 10-2 ERA and batted .337 with a team-high seven home runs as a DH and position player. However, Willamette does have Jason Searle back at catcher after he hit .312 with 38 rbi's.
Whitman College and Whitworth College finished fourth in the poll with 43 points each. Whitman will try to improve on last season's sixth place finish behind the efforts of pitcher Ryan Toivola (5-4, 4.48 ERA). Whitworth, which finished second last season, must replace its top two pitchers and All-NWC outfielder Josh Taylor, who left school for financial reasons.
Pacific was right behind with 42 poll points. The Boxers will look to All-NWC reliever Damian Munoz (17 appearances, 2.13 ERA) to move into a starting spot.Pacific Lutheran followed with 33 points. Senior pitcher Jason Andrew (6-6, 4.95 ERA) will lead the Lutes.
Puget Sound and Lewis & Clark round out the poll with 20 and 17 points respectively.
The season gets underway February 14-17 when seven of the nine teams travel to Chandler, Arizona for a tournament. The only two not playing in Chandler are Linfield and Willamette.