Baseball America picks Marietta third in pre-season poll; DeMark tabbed pre-season All-American

Jan. 24 , 2005
MARIETTA, Ohio - Amid the freezing temperatures, one signal that spring is right around the corner is that Baseball America released its annual College Preview edition. The newspaper forecasts the Etta Express to finish third and named junior right hander Mike DeMark (Jeanette, PA/Penn-Trafford) a pre-season All-American in its Jan. 31-Feb. 13 issue.

Marietta, who was ranked fifth in the Collegiate Baseball pre-season poll, was selected third in Baseball America's Top 5: How They'll Finish. Rowan (NJ) was picked first and Chapman (CA) was selected second, while Johns Hopkins (MD) and Eastern Connecticut State rounded out the Top 5 in Division III.

The Pioneers have won three national titles (1981, 1983, 1986) and have finished national runners-up seven times in 18 World Series appearances.

DeMark, who went 12-2 on the mound and was named a second team All-American in 2004, was the lone Ohio Athletic Conference player named to the pre-season All-American team.

The junior led the Etta Express in innings pitched (90 1/3), appearances (20), complete games (7) strikeouts (101) and ERA (1.79) in 2004. DeMark's ERA was the fourth best in the OAC and his 101 strikeouts were a league best in 2004.

Marietta, who went 33-11 in 2004 and won the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) regular season title, will open the season on March 5, when they take on Lakeland (WI) in the Port Charlotte (FL) Invitational.