Coe News
Fri, Mar 12, 2010 - [Baseball]
After finishing third in the IIAC last year, the Kohawks are the preseason pick to win the league in 2010.
After finishing third in the IIAC last year, the Kohawks are the preseason pick to win the league in 2010.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - Coe College, which placed third in the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) baseball race last season, is the coaches' pick to capture the 2010 Iowa Conference crown. The Kohawks amassed 68 points and four first-place votes to edge Buena Vista University (66 points; 4 first-place votes) for the top spot.

Wartburg College, the 2009 IIAC Tournament champion which saw its string of 12 consecutive Iowa Conference titles snapped last season, received the remaining first-place vote and is third in the Poll with 59 points, followed by defending league co-champions Loras College and Luther College in fourth and fifth place with 49 points and 43 points, respectively. The complete 2010 IIAC baseball Coaches' Poll follows.  First place votes are in parenthesis, followed by total votes and records from 2009.

1. Coe (4) 68 (25-19, 14-8 IIAC)
2. Buena Vista (4) 66 (27-14, 13-10 IIAC)
3. Wartburg (1) 59 (28-20, 14-10 IIAC)
4. Loras 49 (25-14, 15-7 IIAC)
5. Luther 43 (29-13, 15-7 IIAC)
6. Central 39 (17-20, 10-12 IIAC)
7. Simpson 33 (19-23, 11-13 IIAC)
8. Cornell 20 (10-23, 7-14 IIAC)
9. Dubuque 19 (8-31, 2-20 IIAC)

Coe scored a league-high six All-Conference honors last season and return four plus an honorable mention selection to the fold in 2010. Senior first baseman Pat Richmond, a First Team all-league pick, was the Iowa Conference's leading hitter last season, batting .512 with 11 doubles and three home runs. He also posted a league-high .774 slugging percentage and a .543 on-base percentage. Defensively, he posted a .982 fielding percentage (4 errors in 224 chances). The Kohawks' other 2009 First Team All-IIAC pick, senior starting pitcher Cody Raisch posted a 6-0 record in a 51.0 innings with 36 strikeouts and a league-low 2.82 earned-run average in seven league appearances last year. Opponents hit .227 off him in 2009. Raisch, who threw four complete games in league play, was also a Second Team All-Region pick in 2009.

Senior third baseman/outfielder Ryan Schisler and sophomore outfielder Adam Nisenson each earned Second Team All-Conference honors a year ago. Schisler started all 22 of Coe's league games, hitting .363 with seven doubles and three home runs, ranking ninth in the IIAC in doubles, 12th in runs batted in (22), and 15th in slugging percentage (.563). Nisenson hit .392 with 29 hits in 74 at-bats and had a .444 on-base percentage, ranking 10th among IIAC hitters in the former category and 13th in the latter.

Junior Ryan Velvick, a 2008 First Team All-IIAC selection and a 2009 Third Team All-Region pick, returns as the Kohawks' everyday shortstop after being selected honorable mention as a utility player last season. Velvick hit .322 with a .586 slugging percentage (11thin the IIAC), 24 RBI (t-7th), four home runs (t-5th), and a league-high three triples.

Quote from head coach Steve Cook

"I think this will be one of the toughest years to compete in the Iowa Conference and qualify in the top six for the tournament.  We're looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead and are working to be prepared for the tight ballgames week in and week out. If you can find a way to win the close ones more often, you give yourself a chance at the end. We will need our upperclassmen to step up and lead our effort."


Release courtesy of Iowa Conference Office