Angelo State tops the DII baseball preseason Power 10 rankings

Spring is in the air (well, almost) and that means the 2024 DII baseball season is upon us. Before the absolutely stacked competition take the field at the Houston Winter Invitational from Feb. 2-4, let’s break down the DII baseball preseason Power 10. 

There have been three straight first-time national champions in DII baseball. Angelo State enters the season with a lofty task of repeating, but let’s not kid ourselves. Head coach Kevin Brooks has made Angelo State a DII baseball powerhouse with six trips to Cary under his belt. The Rams have been knocking on the door for a while, and now that they got over the hump, a repeat is certainly within reach.

For those new to the Power 10 rankings, these are mine and mine alone — there is no voting body; just me, some spreadsheets and a whole mess of notes and scouting reports from coaches. I attempt to mesh the good ol’ eye test with some of the numbers the selection committee uses to fill the bracket in May. It is also important to note that the only games that matter to me are those played against DII competition. Now, since there are no metrics in the preseason — and so many rosters have seen so much change — a lot of what goes into the preseason rankings is based on key returners and historical staying power.

The 2024 DII baseball preseason Power 10

No. 1 Angelo State

The Rams lost a few players — like 2023 Gold Glover Tyler Boggs and Jordan Williams — but return plenty to make another run for Cary. Jacob Guerrero is a DII baseball player-of-the-year candidate after hitting .412 with a 1.153 OPS last year and Tripp Clark — who led the team in home runs and RBIs while hitting a smooth .374 — also returns. On the bump, the Rams lost some big firepower, but Braxton Pearson should be deadly, clocked as high as 94 mph on his fastball this past fall. Texas Tech transfer, righty Dax Dathe — who hits mid-90s with a plus slider — and lefty transfer Alizaeh Gutierrez  — who has what I have been told is a great changeup and was his conference’s pitcher of the year in 2023 — should become key pieces to the Rams success. As I said, Angelo State has been an annual threat for Cary since Brooks made it his program, and there’s nothing changing this year.

No. 2 Tampa

The Sunshine State Conference is one of the best in DII baseball history, and right at the top is Tampa. The Spartans have won eight of the last 10 SSC regular-season titles and you can expect them to do it again. E.J. Cumbo…