PORTLAND, Ore. – The Portland Pilots had two players – utility player Sam Brown and right-handed pitcher Eli Morse – named to the 2022 All-WCC Preseason Baseball Team. The Pilots were picked to finish sixth in the West Coast Conference Preseason Coaches Poll.
Brown was one of the best freshmen in the conference last season, making the All-WCC Freshman Team and the All-WCC Second Team in his first year on The Bluff. Brown batted .315 on the year with five home runs, 16 doubles and a triple. His 16 doubles were the most of any freshman and fifth in the conference overall. He was also second in extra-base hits (22), third in slugging percentage (.495) and fifth in batting average. The Petaluma, Calif. native was named a Collegiate Baseball Freshmen All-American as well.
Morse was crucial for the Pilots as a closer last season. He was tied for first in the WCC in saves last season with eight. He was among the NCAA leaders in saves the majority of the season. Morse is ninth all-time for the Pilots in strikeouts per nine innings (8.30) and total strikeouts (201) and 10
th in saves (eight).
Portland is tabbed to finish in the top six of the WCC for the first time since 2003. It's the first time they've been projected to finish that high since the West Coast Conference expanded to 10 teams in 2013. Gonzaga was picked to repeat as WCC Champions with 81 points total and nine first-place votes. BYU was picked to finish second with one first-place vote and 69 points total while San Diego, San Francisco and Pepperdine round out the top five. Picked to finish behind Portland are Loyola Marymount, Saint Mary's, Santa Clara and Pacific in that order.
The Pilots put together one of their best seasons of the Geoff Loomis era last spring. They went 24-26 overall with a 14-13 record in WCC play to finish fifth in the conference. Their 14 wins against conference opponents was the most since the 2010 season. They open their season this Friday against the Creighton Blue Jays at 3 p.m. Check PortlandPilots.com for live stats and video.
| Rank |
Team |
Points |
| 1 |
Gonzaga (9) |
81 |
| 2 |
BYU (1) |
69 |
| 3 |
San Diego |
63 |
| 4 |
San Francisco |
54 |
| 5 |
Pepperdine |
48 |
| 6 |
Portland |
42 |
| 7 |
LMU |
34 |
| 8 |
Saint Mary's |
31 |
| 9 |
Santa Clara |
16 |
| 10 |
Pacific |
12 |
2022 All-WCC Preseason Baseball Team – Position Players
Sam Brown, Portland
Christopher Campos, Saint Mary's
Jack Costello, San Diego
Cole Gambill, BYU
Thomas Gavello, Pacific
Cody Jefferis, San Diego
Luke Keaschall, San Francisco
Stephen Lund, Gonzaga
John Peck, Pepperdine
Andrew Pintar, BYU
2022 All-WCC Preseason Baseball Team – Pitchers
Sam Bower, Saint Mary's
Gabriel Hughes, Gonzaga
William Kempner, Gonzaga
Eli Morse, Portland
Trystan Vrieling, Gonzaga
