LOCK HAVEN, Pa. --- The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) announced the results of their 2024 baseball preseason coaches poll on Thursday. Clarion was predicted to finish eighth in the PSAC West division this season.
 
Last year the Golden Eagles went 12-37 overall with a 4-24 record in PSAC West action. They will be under the direction of a new head coach in 2024, as Caleb Lang takes over the program after spending three years at Concordia (Neb.). There Lang helped the team break the program record for wins in a season while reaching the NAIA World Series for the first time in school history. They won back-to-back conference championships with Lang on the staff, seven position players earned first team all-conference honors, and Joey Grabanaski won GPAC Player of the Year.
 
The Golden Eagles a great deal of depth from their own batting order, led by 2023 First Team All-PSAC West and consensus All-Atlantic Region shortstop Scott McManamon. A preseason NCBWA All-Region selection, McManamon led or ranked near the top of every offensive category for Clarion last year and set new single-season program records in home runs (11) and stolen bases (24).
 
McManamon is not the only prominent Golden Eagle position player back in action this year. Seven of the team's top-eight players in terms of at-bats from a year ago return. Third baseman Caden Contant batted a team-best .344 with an .856 OPS last year, and along with McManamon and returning center fielder Kasey Shughart, is one of three players to start 48 games a year ago. Other key returners include upperclassmen Daren Byers, Nate Petke, Tyler Meachum, Mason Kepler and Sam Economy, all of whom started 25 or more games.
 
The Golden Eagles saw much of their veteran pitching depth graduate a year ago, but there are still a handful of pitchers who saw significant action last year. Reilly Shafer led the team with 55.0 innings pitched a year ago and ranked second on the team with 10 starts. Griffin Snyder, Ryan Gallagher and Logan Schlegel are the only three pitchers returning with 10 or more appearances in 2023.
 
The season will begin with a three-game set against Glenville State starting on February 17, and the home opener for the Golden Eagles is currently set as a three-game series against Lake Erie starting on March 2. The PSAC West season starts on March 22 with a four-game series against California (PA).
 
EASTERN DIVISION (# of first place votes)
 
1. Millersville (7)
2. West Chester (1)
3. East Stroudsburg (1)
4. Shippensburg
5. Kutztown
6. Bloomsburg
7. Shepherd
8. Mansfield
9. Lock Haven
 
WESTERN DIVISION (# of first place votes)
 
1. Seton Hill (7)
2. Mercyhurst (1)
3. IUP
4. California
5. Gannon
6. Slippery Rock
7. Pitt-Johnstown
8. Clarion