Photo by Megan Moellendorf Above, Fredonia senior Billy Clifford anticipates a pitch at the plate.

The Fredonia State baseball team was one of three teams picked for fourth place in a tightly-packed SUNYAC preseason poll. The Devils, along with Oneonta and New Paltlz, received 16 points in a vote of head coaches. The top four teams make the conference tournament.

The Devils finished in third place last season, and have 10 seniors on this year’s roster. Last season, they had three-game sweeps against New Paltz and Oneonta, and would end the season in a 10-inning, 1-0 loss in the SUNYAC Tournament to Cortland.

Fredonia State is slated to kick off their season on Feb. 29 at Emory & Henry College in Virginia, then head to Myrtle Beach the following weekend for four games. The first SUNYAC game will be two weeks after that, March 20, on the tail end of the Spring Training trip to Central Florida — a three-game set vs. Plattsburgh.

Softball picked seventh

The SUNYAC Softball Preseason Poll was released on Wednesday, and the Blue Devils were predicted for a seventh-place finish according the head coaches.

The Devils took the sixth and final playoff spot a season ago. Last year’s biggest victory was a regular-season 3-0 win over conference champion Cortland. The Devils were eliminated by a single run in a 4-3 loss to Oswego in the SUNYAC Tournament after leading most of the game. At the conclusion of the season, the team ranked No. 1 in Division III in double plays per game.

Fredonia State will be led by senior pitchers Sam Seegar and Katie Yudin who combined for nearly 200 innings pitched last year.