VALDOSTA, GA. – The Valdosta State baseball team was picked fifth in the 2022 Gulf South Conference Baseball Preseason Coaches' Poll, announced Wednesday by the conference office.
 
Selected as league favorite, West Florida garnered 136 points with five first place votes.  UWF finished the 2021 season with a 37-11 overall and 28-8 in GSC play as it won the GSC Championship and was awarded hosting duties for the NCAA South Regional.  Delta State, who finished league runner-up in 2021, was second in the preseason poll with 126 points and three, first-place nods.  Lee was picked third with 114 points and also garnered three, first place votes.
 
Alabama Huntsville had one of the remaining two, first-place votes and 110 points for fourth, while the Blazers tallied the final first place vote and was one point behind the Chargers (109) round out the top five.  
 
Shorter was picked sixth with 85 points, followed by West Georgia (76), Mississippi College (72), Auburn Montgomery (60) and Montevallo was tenth with 43 points.  West Alabama checked in at 11^th with 39 points, followed by Union with 32 points and Christian Brothers was 13^th with 12 points. 
 
The Blazer baseball team finished the 2021 season with a 25-16 record overall and a 22-13 mark in the GSC.  VSU earned a berth in its 21^st GSC postseason tournament and improved to 37-37 all-time in the tournament.  The 37 wins are third-most among active GSC schools and fourth-most all-time in GSC history.
 
VSU won 10 of its final 12 games in the regular season to earn the No. 4-seed in the Gulf South Conference Championship at beautiful Choccolocco Park in Oxford, Ala.  Blazer head coach Guilliams improved to 409-267-1 at VSU in 14 seasons and 1,086-524-2 all-time in 31 seasons of coaching.
 
Guilliams welcomes back 18 position players, one starting pitcher, and nine relief pitchers for 2022. Highlighting the returnees for the Blazers this season include, sophomore Jacob Harper, senior Jacob Sessa, junior EJ Doskow, senior Elijah Gill, graduate students Jeremy Adams and Mike Christopoulos and junior Zach Henderson.  
 
Doskow played in 37 games with 29 starts and hit .298 for the season with 31 hits, 16 runs scored, six doubles, one triple, six home runs and 27 RBI.  He slugged .548 and reached base at a .395 clip, while going a perfect 9 for 9 in stolen bases.  Doskow's six home runs were good for second on the team and his nine thefts were a team-high.   Sessa hit .367 in 29 games with 13 starts, collecting 22 hits, six doubles, one triple and 13 RBI.  He slugged .500 and reached base at a .388 clip with two stolen bases.  Christopoulos missed last season due to injury, but had two strong seasons in 2019 and 2020.  
 
Gill, one of VSU's starting pitchers, returns after completing 13 starts across 71.2 IP with 91 strikeouts. Adams returns from last season with 18 appearances over 30.1 IP with 31 strikeouts. Lastly Henderson returns after he led the team with 24 appearances and recorded 33.0 and 30 strikeouts.  
 
Going into the 2022 season the Blazers have a number of talented newcomers who are looking to make an impact at VSU.  Ryan Romano, a transfer shortstop from Florida State University comes in as a junior. Romano started 13 games and 12 at third base for the Seminoles last season.  He had four RBI and eight runs scored.  Adrian Garrastazu, a graduate student, comes from Jacksonville University where he was a four-year player and posted 20 strikeouts over 19.1 IP in 15 appearances.  Junior David Crawford comes from Miami-Dade College where he hit .300 on the year and was named the Southern Conference Defensive Player of the Year, named to the All-Southern Conference First Team, FCSAA State Tournament Team, and FCSAA All-State Second Team. Lastly, junior Bryson Gandy who signed with the Minnesota Twins after playing junior college baseball at Lurleen B. Wallace Community College.
 
The Blazers begin the 2022 season with a three-game series at Embry-Riddle, Feb. 4-5, with a single game at 6 p.m. on Feb. 4 and concluding with a doubleheader on Feb. 5 at 1 p.m.  The Blazers open the 2022 home slate at Billy Grant Field at Tommy Thomas Park on Feb. 16 at 5 p.m. versus Saint Leo.
 
For all information on Blazer baseball, visit vstateblazers.com or follow Valdosta State Athletics on social media.
 
2022 GSC Baseball Preseason Coaches Poll

1. West Florida (5) – 136 pts 
2. Delta State (3) – 126
3. Lee (3) – 114
4. Alabama Huntsville (1) – 110
5. Valdosta State (1) – 109
6. Shorter – 85
7. West Georgia – 76
8. Mississippi College – 72
9. Auburn Montgomery – 60
10. Montevallo – 43
11. West Alabama – 39
12. Union – 32
13. Christian Brothers – 12