If baseball games were played on paper, it would be hard not to pick Salve Regina as one of the top Division 3 programs coming out of New England again this spring.
The Seahawks, who trail only defending Commonwealth Coast Conference champion and World Series participant Endicott for the No. 1 spot in New England Baseball Journal’s Preseason Coaches’ Poll, return all but one regular on each side of the ball from the 2023 club that piled up a program-record 39 wins and won two NCAA tournament regional games for the second straight year.
Adding two local Division 1 transfers and impact freshmen to a veteran-laden roster that includes four All-CCC first-team and All-New England Region 2 choices from a season ago makes for an ultra-deep, talented mix that greatly excites 10th-year coach Eric Cirella (Jamestown, R.I.) as the program begins a new era in the NEWMAC.
“The team is hungry,” Cirella said. “When you bring back 12-14 position players and another eight or nine pitchers that made major contributions, it’s huge, but (talent and experience alone don’t) win games. … The guys see it, they get it. But now, it’s ‘show me, don’t tell me.’ ”
