Round Trippers

Major League Baseball’s pitchers and catchers might still be weeks away from reporting, but at least one local Queens team is already stirring up spring fever during winter’s chill.
A season after winning a conference-record sixth Big East Tournament crown, the St. John’s baseball team has been picked second in the annual Big East Preseason Poll. This puts them in outstanding position among other elite teams in NCAA baseball.
Connecticut earned nine first place votes and totaled 117 points to grab the top spot in the poll. St. John’s earned two first place votes to finish with 107 points and edge Louisville, which took third with 105 points and one first place vote. USF and Pittsburgh rounded out the top five.
In other preseason baseball accolades, sophomores Jeremy Baltz and Kyle Hansen were both named to the Preseason All-Big East Team. The Johnnies’ two wunderkinds grabbed national attention this past season, excelling at the plate and at the mound, respectively.
One of five unanimous selections to the preseason All-Big East Team, Baltz has already garnered preseason All-America accolades from both the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA), who named him to the first team; and Louisville Slugger, who named him to the second team. A consensus All-American as a freshman, the outfielder and reigning Big East Rookie of the Year batted .396 with 24 home runs and 85 RBI in his first season with the Red Storm.
Baltz broke St. John’s single season records in both home runs and RBI, and finished the season a unanimous first team All-Big East choice. He started all 63 games for the Red Storm and also scored 64 runs to go with a .771 slugging percentage and a .479 on-base percentage.
The 2010 Big East Tournament Most Outstanding Player, Hansen has already earned third team preseason All-America honors from Louisville Slugger. A third team All-Big East selection as a freshman, the righty went 8-3 with a 3.71 ERA and 85 strikeouts in 94.2 innings of work.
The Red Storm returns 20 letter winners from a 2010 squad that made the program’s 33rd NCAA Tournament appearance, reached the Charlottesville Regional title game, won a conference-record sixth Big East Tournament crown and finished with a school-record 43 wins.
St. John’s opens the 2011 season at the third annual Big East-Big Ten Challenge. The Red Storm faces Minnesota, the defending Big Ten Tournament champions, to begin the season on February 18.