I was going to try to write something about the entire conference, but as I started typing, all that came out was “BCU… BCU… BCU.” The Cats have owned the rights to any and all materials in the MEAC since 2006. No changes here.

2009 in a Paragraph:
I said it last year. I said it the year before that. I said it the year before that. And it looks like I’ll continue to say that for perpetuity – It’s still Bethune-Cookman’s domain until further notice. In the last four MEAC seasons, B-CU has gone 64-4 and no one has finished closer than 5.5 games behind them in the standings. That’s dominance. There’s not a lot of change here in the MEAC, nobody else came out of 2009 with a winning record and Coppin State continued its inglorious string of bad baseball, going 0-29. If anything, the only interesting part is that FAMU and D-State finished tied for second at 10-8 and Norfolk, NCA&T and Eastern Shore all finished a game behind at 9-9.

Conference RPI: 31

2009 Results:
1- Bethune-Cookman, 16-2
2- Florida A&M, 10-8
2- Delaware State, 10-8
4- Norfolk State, 9-9
4- North Carolina A&T, 9-9
4- Maryland-Eastern Shore, 9-9
7- Coppin State, 0-18

2010 in a Paragraph:
Give some credit for there being some more competitive baseball being played in recent years. But it will be hard to call anyone a contender until somebody enters the last weekend of the regular season with a chance to actually un-seat the Wildcats. Despite a few losses, it will easily be the Cats ruling the roost again, though NCA&T and Norfolk both return a whole lot of pitching and some ability at the dish.

BCU's Mervyl Melendez has (pause to feign surprise) the best team in the MEAC again.

Favorite: Bethune-Cookman

Contender: None

Darkhorse: North Carolina A&T

Can’t-Miss Series of the Year: North Carolina A&T at Bethune-Cookman, April 10-12

Best Non-Conference Series: BCU at Urban Invitational, Feb. 19-21
(UCLA, Southern, Cal State Northridge)

Hot Coach: Mervyl Melendez, B-CU

Hot Seat Coach: None

Player You Gotta See: SS Jared Jefferies, FAMU

Three Non-Conference Series MEAC Opponents Better Take Seriously:
1- BCU at Brooks Wallace Classic, Feb. 25-27. (Texas Tech, Washington State)
2- BCU at Troy, March 3-5
3- Villanova at Norfolk State, Feb. 19-21

Three Bold Predictions:
1- BCU will lose more than two games in MEAC play.
2- Maryland-Eastern Shore will have a winning record in MEAC play.
3- Coppin State will win a game.

.
.
- BETHUNE COOKMAN (32-28, 16-2)
2009 RPI: 129
Starters Returning: 6
Weekend Starters: 1
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

All Conference Candidates:
OF C.J. Lauriello (.398-4-36, 12SBs)
1B Alejandro Jimenez (.331-9-32, 21SBs)
SS Alejandro Sanchez (.299)
DH Ryan Durrance (.307-11-48)
LHP Ali Simpson (9-2, 3.23, .245OBA)

The Good News:
The best team in all of the historically black schools, the Wildcats will continue to occupy that role until further notice. Mervyl Melendez just keeps on doing everything right and should bring another MEAC title to Daytona Beach. No pressure there, coach. As usual, the best pitching (4.72) and best defense (.963) wins the brass ring and heads to the NCAA tournament. That’s BCU baseball. And sorry folks, but they’re not going anywhere anytime soon with the returning Freshmen All American battery of Simpson and C Peter O’Brien (.314). Seniors Jimenez and Lauriello both can fly and add a new facet to the offense. And ya’ gotta love the fact that pponents hit just .266 off of the Wildcat pitching staff. That’s good stuff.

The Bad News:
Arrrgh! Those damn one-run losses from last year’s NCAA tournament stuck like a burr in the saddle of the Wildcats. But not as much as losing ace Hiram Burgos and weekend starter Eric Thomas on the mound. Additionally, the Cats are going to need to find some relievers like Justin Dahl and Felix Machado. Also, LHP Roman Lancara (0-0, 7.18, 22 appearances) must post better numbers to help the staff.

Schedule Note:
Still going far and wide to play anyone and everyone.
The Wildcats still love using Travelocity. They’ll start another season out at the Urban Invitational in Compton, California playing against Cal State Northridge, UCLA and Southern. They’ll also go to Lubbock, Texas the following weekend to take on Texas Tech and Washington State. The third weekend sees them take a trip to Troy, Alabama to take on the Troy Trojans. All those games should be good challenges and good for their RPI.

.
- COPPIN STATE (0-29, 0-18)
2009 RPI: 301
Starters Returning: 4
Weekend Starters: 1
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 1

All Conference Candidates:
1B/RHP Harry Williams (.360/0-8, 12.82)
OF Lonnel Bush (.281, 12SBs)

The Good News:
Well guess what? Looks like I’ll be a big Coppin State fan again. I’m going to be on their bandwagon to get them a W. Look at it this way, CSU lost 23 fewer games in 2009 as it did in 2008 (enter slight smirk here). Three of the top four hitters in the order return and the speed of Lonnel Bush (.281, 12SBs) and Mikhail Avent (.241, 15SBs) will back Williams well. Junior College RHP Andrew Kiessling should make an immediate impact on the woeful pitching staff.

The Bad News:
Rainouts, post-ponements and cancellations meant that the Eagles only played 29 games, losing each and every one. Dammit! C’mon guys, let’s win a game. The bad points are easy to bring up, like the 15.36 team ERA and .908 fielding percentage. Mercy.

Schedule Note:
Chances for Ws.
For Coppin State to get a few Ws, the Eagles had to schedule some D-II teams, amongst others. And they did. Home dates with Virginia State and Washington (MD) in March will give them that chance.

.
- DELAWARE STATE (19-25-1, 10-8)
2009 RPI: 275
Starters Returning: 4
Weekend Starters: 1
Mid-Week Starters: 0
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 1

All Conference Candidates:
1B Abe Eubank (.375-10-32)
RHP/OF Jose Portela (1-1, 6.25/.302)
OF Mike Rizzuto (.305)

The Good News:
Good improvement. It’s been a while since DSU has contended in the MEAC, but the Hornets finished in 2nd place last season. Lots of good stuff to build on, including having the 2nd-best pitching staff (5.17) and defense (.958) in the MEAC last season. Eubank is a stud and Portela should adjust well to a bigger role this season.

The Bad News:
The Hornets still haven’t had a winning mark since the 2004 season and last season’s 0-2 finish in the MEAC tourney has hung over their heads for eight months now. DSU also has to deal with their 1-10 finish to the ‘09 season. Five of the top seven hitters and almost every pitcher of not is gone from last year’s team. So this will be a whole new Hornet team for 2010.

Schedule Note:
The toughest May in the MEAC.
DSU will face a daunting end of the season schedule, starting with a weekend at N.C. A&T, hosting MEAC favorite Bethune-Cookman and then closing things up with treks to Navy and New Mexico. Geez. Tain’t gonna be easy.

.
- FLORIDA A&M (24-30, 10-8)
2009 RPI: 287
Starters Returning: NA
Weekend Starters: NA
Mid-Week Starters: NA
Key Relievers (20+inns.): NA

All Conference Candidates:
SS Jared Jeffries (.425, 20SBs)
2B Derrick Shaw (.366, 10SBs)

The Good News:
The Rattlers finished second in the MEAC last season in coach Robert Lucas’ second year. Things should get smoother as he warms to the chore. The offense beat opposing pitchers to the tune of .337 average last season and stole 134 bases along the way. And just to show you the speed the Rattlers possess, they hit 28 triples and 27 home runs. You don’t see that often.

The Bad News:
FAMU owes N.C. A&T big time after losing twice to the Aggies in the MEAC post-season tournament. Opponents hit a healthy .303 off of the Rattlers arms corps and the defense playing .934 were two of the bigger problems. The hurlers must cut down on the 277 free passes to opposing hitters.

Schedule Note:
Returning to the SWAC-MEAC Challenge.
For the second year in a row, FAMU will face off with Jackson State in a pair of weekend series in the 2010 season. They’ll host JSU in the first weekend in March and then make the return trip the last weekend of April. And for the second year in a row, the face off with MEAC favorite Bethune-Cookman will be the opening weekend of conference play. C’mon schedule-makers of the MEAC, let the top two teams in the conference meet at the end of the season.

.
- MARYLAND-EASTERN SHORE (14-42, 9-9)
2009 RPI: 298
Starters Returning: 6
Weekend Starters: 2
Mid-Week Starters: 2
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 1

All Conference Candidates:
OF Phil Vaughn (.310, 28SBs)
OF Bryan Chaikowsky (.381, 12SBs)
RHP Matt Witte (3-4, 6.45)

The Good News:
Coach Gardner has one of the toughest jobs in college baseball, but is making great strides, getting a 9-9 record in MEAC play last season. Strong work. He’s built his team on speed, as witnessed by their 23 triples and 79 stolen bases last season. Obviously, Vaughn will play a key part of that philosophy again this season. And even though it doesn’t sound like much, the team ERA dropped to 8.56 last year, a vast improvement.

The Bad News:
The big goal now is to try and stay competitive in the conference and improve on the five non-conference wins from last season. The key is finding a pitcher or two (or five) that can have an ERA below 5.00 or keep the opposition from hitting .356 off of them. The staff also made the grave mistake of giving up more walks (248) than they had of strike outs (236). Turn that around Hawks.

Schedule Note:
Good challenge, but easy enough?
UMES will have its work cut out, because there aren’t a lot of easy Ws on the schedule. The pre-MEAC weekends will be against William & Mary, Rider, VMI, Binghamton and Savannah State, so there are some winnable games, but overall a tough assignment.

.
- NORTH CAROLINA A&T (21-34, 9-9)
2009 RPI: 276
Starters Returning: 7
Weekend Starters: 3
Mid-Week Starters: 2
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

All Conference Candidates:
OF Xavier Macklin (.371-10-48, 14SBs)
OF/RHP Nick Rogers (.330-11-47/2-2, 7.01)
INF Marquis Riley (.338)

The Good News:
Nice post-season run there guys. The Aggies made it to the title round of the MEAC tournament. That came at the end of a stellar 13-7 finish to the 2009 season. Let’s hope it carries over. That mostly freshman pitching staff will grow up a lot in their second year on campus with weekend starters LHP Esternil Paulino (5-5, 4.09) and RHP Blaine McCraw (1-8, 6.43) and relief ace LHP Nick Boles (5-2, 5.36). Macklin and Rogers will provide plenty of pop, to go with a lot of speed.

The Bad News:
First off, the Ags must try to avoid another 3-12 start to the season. That led to a dip from the 2008 marks of 29 wins and an 11-6 conference mark. Losing a spark plug like OF C.J. Beatty is a tough loss. NCA&T also finished 2nd-to-last in the MEAC in defense at .929.

Schedule Note:
Local flavor should help.
The Aggies will stay mostly close to home and play a lot of local teams in the pre-conference play, including the Elon Tournament in the opening weekend, Campbell, NC State and North Carolina Central. They’ll also host New Jersey Tech, Eastern Kentucky and Princeton to get a few more wins. They’ll also play host to Savannah State over a late-April weekend and host the Tigers again in mid-May.

.
- NORFOLK STATE (22-23, 9-9)
2009 RPI: 278
Starters Returning: 8
Weekend Starters: 3
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

All Conference Candidates:
OF John Lynch (.332, 7triples, 17SBs, 2nd team All MEAC)
3B Chris Joyce (.298, 2nd team All MEAC)
1B Brandon Hairston (.348)
RHP Quinn Bright (5-5, 4.86)
RHP Jason Barker (6-3, 4.78)
DH Juan Herrera (.333)

The Good News:
Opposing pitchers take heed: The Spartans had the second-best offense in the MEAC (at .312) and return most of that firepower. Lynch and Joyce have been through the rigors before and will pace the offense. The arms staff returns an all-senior weekend rotation with Bright, Barker and Chase Davenport (6-5, 4.33) from a unit that finished with a respectable 5.77 team ERA. Several impressive frosh arms will vie for meaningful innings as well, including LHP Richie Salter and RHP Joel Himan.

The Bad News:
When NSU lost last season, they tended to lose badly, as 10 of their losses saw the Spartans surrender double-digit run totals. The defense, as with most of the MEAC you read about above, was severely below par, with a .943 fielding percentage. The loss of Anselmo Cantu and Jerrod Farley means little power comes back to the lineup.

Schedule Note:
New school record on the way?
With all the returning talent, it looks like the school-record of 25 wins in a season could be in jeopardy. But pre-conference games against the likes of Villanova, Savannah State, Georgetown, Mount St. Mary’s and Fairleigh Dickinson will help increase that likelihood even more. Go get ‘em Spartans.