ARLINGTON, Texas – Grand Canyon was voted the top team in the preseason 2024 Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Baseball Coaches Poll that was released on Tuesday. All 11 WAC baseball head coaches cast votes for the preseason predicted order of finish and all-conference honors.
 
Grand Canyon received nine first-place votes and 99 voting points at the top of the 2024 conference preseason coaches poll. Utah Valley was second with one first-place vote and 75 voting points, with California Baptist claiming the final first-place vote to check in third with 74 points. Abilene Christian (70 points) and UT Arlington (68 points) were also included in the preseason top five.
 
Utah Valley sophomore infielder Daniel Dickinson and California Baptist senior infielder Mitchel Simon were named 2024 WAC Preseason Players of the Year. Dickinson burst on the scene as a true freshman and batted .376 with 19 doubles, nine home runs, 42 RBI and 59 runs scored for Utah Valley last season, including a .410 average with 19 extra-base hits, 29 RBI and 31 runs in 28 WAC starts in 2023. Simon was tied for the conference lead with 21 doubles while hitting .309 with 19 home runs and 54 RBI overall last season, bolstered by nine home runs and 30 RBI in 31 conference starts.
 
Grand Canyon junior pitcher Daniel Avitia repeated as the WAC Preseason Pitcher of the Year. Avitia was 7-1 with a 3.92 ERA in 15 appearances (14 starts) last season, striking out 81 batters while issuing just 19 walks over 82.2 innings pitched. Avitia was a perfect 6-0 in WAC regular season games with a .248 batting average against in 10 conference starts as a sophomore.
 
Dickinson and Simon were both selected to the 12-player preseason All-WAC team by the conference head coaches, with Avitia also named to the preseason all-conference roster. Grand Canyon led the way with three total selections, followed by California Baptist and Utah Valley with two honorees each. Abilene Christian, Sacramento State, UT Arlington, Tarleton State and UTRGV were also represented.
 
2024 WAC BASEBALL PRESEASON HONORS (as voted by WAC head coaches)
 
2024 WAC Baseball Preseason Coaches Poll
 

Rank	Team (1st-Place Votes)	Points
1.	Grand Canyon (9)	99
2.	Utah Valley (1)	75
3.	California Baptist (1)	74
4.	Abilene Christian	70
5.	UT Arlington	68
6.	UTRGV	59
7.	Sacramento State	54
8.	Seattle U	39
9.	Tarleton State	34
10.	Stephen F. Austin	19
11.	Utah Tech	16

 
2024 WAC Preseason Players of the Year: Daniel Dickinson, So., INF, Utah Valley; Mitchel Simon, Sr., INF, California Baptist
2024 WAC Preseason Pitcher of the Year: Daniel Avitia, Jr., RHP, Grand Canyon
 
2024 Preseason All-WAC Team
C – Michael Carpentier, Sr., California Baptist
1B – Zach Yorke, So., Grand Canyon
2B – Daniel Dickinson, So., Utah Valley
3B – Mitchel Simon, Sr., California Baptist
SS – Matthew Schwarz, Sr., Utah Valley
OF – Miller Laudusau, Sr., Abilene Christian
OF – Cade Verdusco, Sr., Grand Canyon
OF – Garrison Berkley, R-Jr., UT Arlington
DH – Cesar Valero, Sr., Sacramento State
SP – Daniel Avitia, Jr., RHP, Grand Canyon
SP – Angelo Cabral, Sr., RHP, UTRGV
RP – Zach Poe, Sr., RHP, Tarleton State