Cedar Rapids, Iowa - Results of the American Rivers Conference's Baseball Preseason Poll (as voted on by the league's head coaches): 
 

2019 American Rivers Conference Baseball Preseason Coaches' Poll
Rank	School (1st place votes)	Points	2018 Record
1.	University of Dubuque (5)	58	26-17 OA, 16-5 CONF (Conference Regular Season & Tournament Champions)
2.	Coe College (3)	55	24-18 OA, 14-8 CONF
3.	Wartburg College	52	26-13 OA, 15-6 CONF
4.	Luther College (1)	48	26-16 OA, 13-9 CONF
5.	Buena Vista University	36	15-23 OA, 10-12 CONF
6.	Loras College	23	25-15 OA, 14-9 CONF
7.	Central College	22	26-23 OA, 7-16 CONF
8.	Simpson College	21	8-28 OA, 6-17 CONF
9.	Nebraska Wesleyan University	9	9-26 OA, 5-18 CONF

The 2018 Conference regular season and tournament champions, University of Dubuque, are the coaches' choice to win the 2019 American Rivers Conference regular season title. The Spartans earned 58 points in the poll, recording five of the nine first -place votes (coaches cannot vote for their own team). Coe College, who finished third a season ago garnered 55 points and three first-place votes to take the number-two spot in this year's poll. 2018 regular season and tournament runner-up, Wartburg College, was selected third with 52 points and fourth-place went to Luther College, who collected 48 points, including one first-place vote. For capsules on all nine teams, follow here:

National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA)/D3baseball.com Rankings:  Teams from the A-R-C will have to battle their way into the national polls in 2019, as the preseason rankings debuted with no league members ranked.  

New Coaches: No new coaches

The Schedule: American Rivers Conference play consists of a 24-game round-robin season with three game series vs. each school. The 2019 American Rivers schedule begins the weekend of March 22-23 with Simpson hosting Buena Vista, Central traveling to Coe, Wartburg hosting Dubuque and Nebraska Wesleyan traveling to Loras. Luther will go on the road for its first league series on March 29-30, where they will face Dubuque.  

Conference Tournament: The 2019 American Rivers Conference Tournament will be held May 9-11 on Perfect Game Field at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The winner of the double-elimination tournament will receive the Conference's automatic berth in the 2019 NCAA Division III Baseball Championship tournament. 

NCAA Division III College World Series: The American Rivers Conference  and Cedar Rapids Tourism will be the hosts for the 2019 - 2022 NCAA Division III World Series, with the championship being played at Perfect Game Field at Veterans Memorial Stadium.  The Division III World Series has been played at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium in Appleton, WI since 2000. The 2019 Championships will take place Friday, May 31 - Wednesday, June 5. Check back to rollrivers.com at the end of February for the tournament page and ticket information. 
 

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* Please note, only returners are listed in the "By the Numbers" sections
   
 

2018 Team Pitching ERA (Conf. Games Only)
School	ERA
Dubuque	2.25
Coe	3.53
Wartburg	3.86
Luther	3.91
Loras	3.94
Central	5.01
Buena Vista	6.35
Nebraska Wesleyan	6.96
Simpson	7.02
* The Spartans return two All-Conference pitchers to the mound in 2019. Nathan Schneidermann, a two-time first-team All-Conference selection held the league's fourth-best ERA (1.82) in relief duty for the Spartans a season ago. Owning the conference's second-best ERA of returning pitchers is Chase Kueter. Kueter ended his sophomore campaign with a 1.65 league ERA, earning him first-team All-Conference for the second straight year.

 

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2nd

No.2 Coe College Head Coach: Steve Cook (23rd season at Coe; W/L: 480-440-1 ) 2018 Conference Finish: 3rd 2018 Record: 24-18 OA, 14-8 CONF Starting Position Players Returning/Lost: 8-1 Starting Pitchers Returning/Lost: 5/1 Letter winners Returning/Lost: 20/3 All-Conf. Returning: Kevin Delaney: (First Team- 2018, 2017, 2016); Jack Greene (First Team - 2018, Second Team - 2017); Jordan Kaplan (First Team - 2018); Alex Timp (Second Team - 2018); Jacob Burns (Second Team - 2017)  All-Conf. Lost: Grant Henning: (Conf. Position Player of the Year- 2018) Steve Cook - "The conference will be strong with a lot of returning talent throughout.  We hope to prepare ourselves well for the tough, competitive schedule week in and week out."

 

2018 Team Batting Average (Conf. Games Only)
School	Batting Avg.
Dubuque	.324
Coe	.297
Loras	.293
Luther	.291
Wartburg	.286
Buena Vista	.272
Nebraska Wesleyan	.256
Central	.245
Simpson	.244
* The Kohawks return one of the most consistent bats in the League over the past three seasons in Kevin DeLaney. A three-time first-team All-League selection, DeLaney enters his senior season with a three-year conference batting average of .368 (110-299). Jordan Kaplan, a fellow All-Conference performer, returns the league's second-best batting average from a season ago (.391). In 2018 conference play Kaplan also ranked second in RBI (28), third in hits (34), fourth in on base percentage (.462) and runs scored (23).

 

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4th

No.4 Luther College Head Coach: Bryan Nikkel (5th season at Luther; W/L: 102-64) 2018 Conference Finish: 5th 2018 Record: 26-16 OA, 13-9 CONF Starting Position Players Returning/Lost: 8/1 Starting Pitchers Returning/Lost: 5/1 Letter winners Returning/Lost: N/A All-Conf. Returning: Joey Cardamon: (Conf. Pitcher of the Year - 2018; Trent Athmann: (First Team - 2018); Jake Halverson: (First Team - 2018); Jake Vogt: (First Team - 2018, Second Team 2017); Bryce Hingst: (Second Team - 2017) All-Conf. Lost: Mitch Bruggers: (Second Team - 2018, First Team - 2017) Bryan Nikkel - "2019 is no doubt going to be another grueling year in the A-R-C as top to bottom every team will be very competitive. Every A-R-C team will be able to beat anyone on any given day. I am excited to see some of our younger players burst onto the scene along with some of our returners. We have a solid core of returners that have set the bar high for themselves. I can't wait to get going!"

 

2018 Team Doubles (Conf. Games Only)
School	Number
Luther	58
Coe	54
Dubuque	46
Loras	40
Buena Vista	40
Central	39
Nebraska Wesleyan	37
Simpson	32
Wartburg	28
* For three seasons, Luther has led the conference in doubles. First team All-Conference honorees Jake Halverson and Jake Vogt topped the league standings with 13 doubles each. Fellow first-teamer, Trent Athman tied for 9th in the standings with seven doubles. Halverson also posted the leagues' top batting average (.435) while Vogt ranked fourth (.385). The conference's 2018 Pitcher of the Year, Joey Cardamon, also returns for the Norse in 2019. Cardamon posted a 1.57 league ERA in 2018. In 51.2 innings of work he struck out 35 and gave up 38 hits.

 
    

5th

No.5 Buena Vista University  Head Coach: Steve Eddie (19th season at Buena Vista; W/L: 412-314-2) 2018 Conference Finish: 6th 2018 Record: 15-23 OA, 10-12 CONF Starting Position Players Returning/Lost: 8/1 Starting Pitchers Returning/Lost: 3/0 Letter winners Returning/Lost: N/A All-Conf. Returning: Peyton Renning: (First Team – 2018); Nick Henrichs: (First Team – 2018); Noah Paper: (First Team – 2017) All-Conf. Lost: Devin Wagenman: (Second Team - 2018) Steve Eddie - "After a rough season in 2018, we need to see improvement in every area this spring in order to finish towards the top of the conference.”

 

2018 Team Stolen Bases (Conf. Games Only)
School	SB-SbATT
Wartburg	45-52
Buena Vista	34-40
Luther	32-40
Coe	29-41
Loras	27-35
Dubuque	26-35
Simpson	23-31
Central	23-31
Nebraska Wesleyan	16-27
* Ryley McGregor and Peyton Renning were the top base stealers for the Beavers during league play last season. McGregor tied for eighth in the league with seven and Renning stole six bags to stand tied for 10th. Renning was voted first team All-Conference in 2018. The now senior outfielder posted a .465 on base percentage to rank third in the conference. Utility player, Nick Henrichs, garnered first team accolades in just his first season of collegiate baseball. During league play he had a .426 slugging percentage and finished with a 3.48 ERA in 20.2 innings.

 

6th

No.6 Loras College Head Coach: Carl Tebon (24th season at Loras; W/L: 517-493-4) 2018 Conference Finish: 4th 2018 Record: 25-15 OA, 14-9 CONF Starting Position Players Returning/Lost: 5/3 Starting Pitchers Returning/Lost: 0/4 Letter winners Returning/Lost: N/A All-Conf. Returning: Austin Konagel: (Frist Team - 2018 & 2016, Second Team - 2017)  All-Conf. Lost: Brad Schwind: (First Team - 2018); Danny Weis: (First Team – 2018); Ryan Koester: (Second Team - 2018); Aidan Wojciehowski: (Honorable Mention - 2018); Tyler Tomaka: (Honorable Mention - 2018) Carl Tebon - "Looking forward to 2019. We have some very good position players returning along with a good group of young pitchers."

 

2018 Team Home Runs (Conf. Games Only)
School	Number
Loras	13
Buena Vista	11
Luther	10
Wartburg	10
Nebraska Wesleyan	9
Central	9
Coe	7
Dubuque	5
Simpson	4
* The Duhawks led the league in home runs (13) and triples (12) in 2018 but will need to reload their fire power with nine of 13 bombs from a season ago gone to graduation. Cole Thompson is the top returning home run hitter with two (conf. only). Austin Konagel returns the top batting average (conf. only) for Loras in 2019 (.344). Konagel picked up his second first team All-Conference honor in 2018 and his third career All-League accolade.

 

7th

No.7 Central College Head Coach: Matt Schirm (5th season at Central, W/L: 68-96) 2018 Conference Finish: 7th 2018 Record: 26-23 OA, 7-16 CONF Starting Position Players Returning/Lost: 8/1 Starting Pitchers Returning/Lost: 4/1 Letter winners Returning/Lost: 20/6 All-Conf. Returning: Garrett Saunders: (Second Team – 2018); Zach Edwards: (Second Team – 2018) All-Conf. Lost: Dylan Diveney (Honorable Mention – 2018, First Team – 2017, Pitcher of the Year – 2015) Matt Schirm - "We will be an experienced team in 2019. Our starting pitching and defense should be solid. Our success will depend on our bullpen and offense. As always, the conference will be competitive top to bottom. There are many teams who could contend for the title."

 
 

2018 Team Strikeouts (Conf. Games Only)
School	SO/SO Looking
Central	163-51
Loras	159-44
Dubuque	147-31
Simpson	137-35
Nebraska Wesleyan	136-33
Wartburg	135-39
Coe	124-35
Buena Vista	124-33
Luther	123-35
* A season ago the Dutch led the conference in batters struck out and batters struck out looking. Returning All-Conference pitcher Zach Edwards contributed 37 strikeouts. Nick Long, who recorded 21 strikeouts last season is also back on the mound for the Dutch. On the offensive side All-League performer Garrett Saunders tied for second in stolen bases among returning players.

   

8th

No.8 Simpson College Head Coach: Nathan Roling (3rd season at Simpson; W/L: 15-57) 2018 Conference Finish: 8th 2018 Record: 8-28 OA, 6-17 CONF Starting Position Players Returning/Lost: 5/4 Starting Pitchers Returning/Lost: 2/3 Letter winners Returning/Lost: 11/8 All-Conf. Returning: Kolton Arnold: (First Team - 2018); Tanner Jansen: (Honorable Mention - 2018); Noah Sacco: (Honorable Mention - 2018) All-Conf. Lost: Trey Kehoe (Second Team - 2018), Hunter Hillygus (Second Team - 2017) Nathan Roling - “We are excited to for the 2019 season. With programs returning a lot of talent across the conference, we expect the A-R-C to be as competitive up-and-down as usual. This year’s group will display a good balance of experience and newcomers in the lineup and rotation. We have been making continuous strides and see that continuing into the tough conference season. This talented and hungry group has high expectations and is eager to make its mark in the conference race.”

 

2018 Individual Batting Average (Conf. Games Only)
Player-School	Batting Avg.
Jake Halverson - Luther	.435
Jordan Kaplan - Coe	.391
Jake Vogt - Luther	.385
Kellen Mitchell - Dubuque	.381
Peyton Renning - Buena Vista	.381
Justin Jensen - Dubuque	.380
Kevin DeLaney - Coe	.363
Noah Sacco - Simpson	.356
* Simpson returns honorable mention All-Conference honoree Noah Sacco in 2019. Sacco ranks eighth in batting average (.356) for returning league players. Kolton Arnold, the league's first-team All-Conference DH batting .290 with 4 doubles, 8 RBI. Simpson will look for strong improvements from their pitching staff this season after finishing eighth in the league with a 7.02 ERA. The Storm will also look for greater consistency at the plate after recording a team batting average of .244 in conference play.

 
 

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