West Babylon, N.Y. – The baseball coaches of the East Coast Conference expect a third straight conference title for Molloy in 2023 after the Lions were a unanimous choice atop the league’s preseason poll released on Wednesday. In addition, Queens’ Marc Cisco (Long Island City, N.Y.) was named the conference’s Preseason Player of the Year, and Charlie Cucchiara (East Meadow, N.Y.) of Molloy was selected as the Preseason Pitcher of the Year.
Molloy tops the poll after the 2022 season included winning a program record 40 games, repeating as ECC Champions, and falling one game short of advancing to the NCAA Division II World Series for the second year in a row. The Lions also start the season ranked in the Top 25 in both the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (No. 21) and Collegiate Baseball Newspaper (No. 25) Division II preseason polls. This year’s version of the Lions will have a new-look lineup with only four players who spent regular time in the lineup returning. The pitching staff, led by Cucchiara, remains nearly intact however, with six of seven pitchers who tossed at least 20 innings back for another go-around.
Cucchiara is the conference’s Preseason Pitcher of the Year for the second straight season. He followed through on the coaches’ 2022 preseason prediction by earning the ECC Pitcher of the Year honor after another outstanding season. Cucchiara compiled an 8-1 record with a 2.91 earned run average and 58 strikeouts over 99.0 innings. To go along with his Pitcher of the Year nod, Cucchiara was a consensus All-Region selection, earning a spot on the NCBWA and Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) First Team and the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Second Team.
Queens is No. 2 in the poll after the program’s most successful season in 25 years. The Knights had their most wins since the 1998 season with a 26-17 record and advanced to the final of the ECC Championship, also for the first time since 1998. A big part of the Knights' success was arguably the best rookie season in conference history from Cisco, the ECC Preseason Player of the Year.
Cisco was awarded both the ECC Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year honors after winning the league’s Triple Crown. He led the conference with a .435 batting average, 10 home runs, and 49 runs batted in while also ranking in the top-five in the loop with 51 runs, 67 hits, three triples, 115 total bases, 33 walks, a .526 on-base percentage, and a .747 slugging percentage. His phenomenal season earned him consensus All-America honors with selections to the NCBWA Second Team and the D2CCA and ABCA Third Team.
St. Thomas Aquinas is No. 3 in the poll, followed by Mercy at No. 4 as expected ECC Championship participants. St. Thomas Aquinas has qualified for the conference tournament in 13 of the past 14 seasons, while Mercy has advanced to two straight after a 10-year absence.
D’Youville, who is ineligible for the ECC Championship as they finish their three-year transition to full Division II members, is next at No. 5. The poll rounds out with Staten Island at No. 6, followed by Lincoln at No. 7.
2023 ECC Baseball Preseason Poll
| School | Pts. | Last Year's Record |
| 1. Molloy (7) | 49 | 40-15 (16-2 ECC) |
| 2. Queens | 38 | 26-17 (15-6 ECC) |
| 3. St. Thomas Aquinas | 34 | 23-23 (14-7 ECC) |
| 4. Mercy | 33 | 21-25-1 (14-7 ECC) |
| 5. D'Youville | 20 | 14-22 (7-11 ECC) |
| 6. Staten Island | 14 | 11-25 (4-16 ECC) |
| 7. Lincoln | 8 | 5-35 (1-18 ECC) |
( ) - first place votes
Preseason Player of the Year: Marc Cisco, So., IF, Queens
Preseason Pitcher of the Year: Charlie Cucchiara, Sr., Molloy
