Christopher Newport headlined the 2024 Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference (C2C) Baseball Preseason Poll, following a vote among the conference head coaches. The Captains collected four points and two first-place votes to lead the rankings.

Salisbury was second with three points and the remaining top vote, while Mary Washington was third.

The 2024 season kicks off Saturday, February 10 and concludes with the C2C Baseball Championship taking place May 10-12. Teams will be seeded based on conference results following the two head-to-head matchups.

Below is a brief preview of each team entering the 2024 season: 

Christopher Newport returns seven starters from a lineup that reached the NCAA Regional Championship Game for the second straight year. The Captains will start the year ranked No. 20 in the nation according to the D3baseball.com preseason poll after posting a 33-11 overall record last year. Returning to the mound is C2C Pitcher of the Year Dylan Weber, looking to punctuate his illustrious career with a swan song season after earning All-Region honors a year ago. Also, back into the fold are All-Region catcher Zach Dzarnowski and All-Region reliever Kyle Lewis alongside C2C Rookie of the Year Josh Reinhold.

Salisbury returns 20 players from the squad's third trip to the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship in Cedar Rapids in as many seasons while welcoming 18 newcomers (11 freshmen, seven transfers). Highlighting the familiar faces is Danny Sheeler, who collected both D3Baseball.com and ABCA All-American honors a season ago after leading the conference in batting average (.393) and RBI (55) while sharing the lead in long balls (14). The arms are fresh for the Sea Gulls, introducing six new pitchers into the mix for 2024. Leading the returners on the bump are senior Benji Thalheimer and sophomore Tyler Villa.

Mary Washington welcomes back six all-conference performers from last year's NCAA Tournament team, including first team selections senior outfielder Bobby Ayscue, senior DH/pitcher Ty Lowe, senior first baseman Noah Roots, and senior pitcher Brendan McComber. Honorable mention pitchers Justin Ritz and Jackson Myers return as well, giving the Eagles a veteran group to rely upon. Ayscue batted .366 with three home runs and 35 RBI to go with 18 doubles and 14 stolen bases in gaining all-region honors. Lowe batted .364 with five homers and 47 RBI and went 3-1 with two saves on the mound. Roots batted .383, missing some time with injury, and McComber finished 8-1 with one save. Ritz went 4-5 and Myers 4-6 as a freshman with 63 strikeouts.