CRESSON, Pa. -- On Wednesday, the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) released their annual Pre-Season Coaches' Poll for the 2024 Baseball Season. Mount Aloysius was picked to finish fourth in the conference, despite finishing in third place last season. In addition to the poll, Tyler Quade (Mechanicsville, Md. / Chopticon) earned one of the two Pre-Season individual awards, as he was tabbed the Preseason Player of the Year.

Alfred State was selected to finish atop the standings in 2024, matching their regular season finish in 2023. They were followed up by Penn State Behrend and Penn State Altoona, respectively. Penn State Altoona was the 2023 AMCC Tournament Champion, earning the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Quade was picked as the Preseason Player of the Year for the second consecutive season. He is coming off a phenomenal year in 2023, as he was named Fourth Team All-America by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) and Rawlings. Nationally ranked in Batting Average and Toughest to Strike Out, Quade hit .496 and struck out just four times over the course of the season. He ranked in the AMCC Top Five in numerous offensive categories, including leading the league in both Total Hits (69) and Batting Average. His number of total hits also set a program record for hits in a season.

As part of the preseason release, Joshua Brown (Manassas, Va. / Osbourn Park) was listed as a Player to Watch. Brown was a Second Team All-AMCC selection in 2023, as an outfielder. He started all 36 games for the Mounties, batting .330 with eight doubles and three home runs. Brown was also 14-for-15 in stolen base attempts.

Mount Aloysius will open the season a bit earlier than normal, when they travel to Aberdeen, Md., playing at the Ripken Baseball Experience, February 23-25. They will play four games against high-level competition, before opening with their usual three-game series at Mary Baldwin and a single game at nationally-ranked, Shenandoah.

Over Spring Break (March 10-15), the Mounties will head to Myrtle Beach, S.C., for their annual spring trip where they will play seven games. After returning north, they will travel to Saint Vincent and Gettysburg, before opening the home portion of their schedule on March 30 against AMCC-foe, Alfred State.

During the month of April, Mount Aloysius will host non-conference opponents, Juniata, Penn College, and Penn State Greater Allegheny, while hosting conference tilts against Penn State Altoona, Penn State Behrend, and Wells. Their away matchups include Hilbert, Lancaster Bible, La Roche, Pitt-Bradford, Pitt-Greensburg, and Westminster.

You can view the whole 2024 schedule, including video and live stat links when available, here.

To read the full AMCC release, click here.

2024 AMCC Pre-Season Coaches' Poll
1. Alfred State (1)
2. Penn State Behrend (2)
3. Penn State Altoona (6)
4. Mount Aloysius (3)
5. Hilbert (T-4)
6. Pitt-Greensburg (T-4)
7. La Roche (7)
8. Pitt-Bradford (8)
9. Wells **

* Number in parenthesis is order of regular season finish in 2023
** 2024 will be Wells' first season in the AMCC