The Cochise College baseball team is ranked No. 3 in the Division I preseason poll released Tuesday by the NJCAA.
Preseason rankings are based off district predictions submitted through a survey provided to all NJCAA programs. The Apaches were predicted to claim their third straight Western District title in the predictions released Monday.
Cochise is the only Division I school in Arizona that made the preseason poll’s top 20 or received votes. Iowa Western is ranked first and Columbia State is second.
In the last two seasons, the Apaches have won back-to-back district titles — the first Western District team to do so since district tournaments were implemented in 2000. With those wins, the Apaches have made back-to-back appearances in the NJCAA Division I World Series — a feat not accomplished in Region I since Cochise did it in 1988 and ’89.
Cochise opens the 2015 season this weekend at home on the Douglas Campus with two doubleheaders against New Mexico Military Institute. Admission is free to all regular-season home games.