Baseball picked to finish tied for sixth in 2021 HCAC preseason poll

CARMEL, Ind. – Heading into its upcoming season, the Defiance College baseball team is picked to finish tied for sixth among the 10 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference squads, according to the 2021 HCAC Baseball Preseason Poll. The poll was comprised in a vote of the conference's head coaches and released by the HCAC office on Monday morning.

Defiance, under 14th-year head coach Derek Woodley, finished with 44 points in the poll and is tied with Hanover College. Franklin College received 90 points to claim the top spot and is followed by Anderson University (84), Transylvania University (77), Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (74) and Earlham College (53). Behind the Yellow Jackets are Manchester University (35 points), Bluffton University (34) and Mount St. Joseph University (15).

DC also had four seniors named to the 2021 HCAC Athletes to Watch list in infielder Nate Kaffenbarger (De Graff, Ohio/Indian Lake), pitcher Cohen Nies (Logansport, Ind./Lewis Cass), pitcher Jack Powell (Commerce Township, Mich./Walled Lake Northern) and infielder Colin Minner (London, Ohio/London).

In a shortened 2020 season because of the coronavirus, there were no HCAC games played. Defiance finished with a 7-3 overall record, matching Earlham which had the same mark, for the best winning percentage in the conference. The Yellow Jackets' .700 winning percentage last year was their best in 52 years after the 1968 squad ended 19-8 (.704) overall. Additionally, it had been 31 seasons since DC got off to a better 10-game as the 1989 team began 7-2-1.   

Defiance's 2021 schedule consists of 40 HCAC contests. The Jackets are slated to open the campaign when hosting a doubleheader with Hanover on Saturday, March 6 at noon.