St. Francis de Sales, St. John’s Jesuit, and Clay were each in the thick of the Three Rivers Athletic Conference baseball championship race right down to the wire last season, and those three teams are expected to be back in the conference title chase this year.

By the narrowest of margins, defending champion St. Francis was favored in a preseason TRAC coaches’ poll to repeat its title.

The Knights (19-7 overall, 11-3 TRAC) of 11th-year coach Tim Gerken matched the four first-place votes given to rival St. John’s (18-7, 10-4), and edged the Titans 60-59 in voting points to earn the favorite’s role.

Clay’s Eagles (20-7, 10-4) were third in the poll with 40 points, Central Catholic (15-12, 9-5) was fourth at 38, and Whitmer (16-10, 8-6) was fifth at 37. Findlay, Fremont Ross and Lima Senior round out the rankings.

The season opened Saturday, and conference play begins Friday.

“If we get consistent pitching and play solid defensively, we should be a contender in both the TRAC and the district,” Gerken said. “It is always a competitive field of teams.”

St. Francis will be led by two returning first-team All-TRAC players — junior pitcher Carter Smith (5-1, 1.83 earned-run average), and sophomore outfielder Noah Watts (.407 batting average) — plus two seniors who were second-team All-TRAC picks in first baseman Dan Martin (.319) and catcher Nick Sifuentes (.306).

Gerken also expects big contributions from returnees Ryan Mildenburger (OF), Nate Sifuentes (shortstop), Timmy Organ (third base), and Braden Durham (catcher-second base).

The Knights topped St. John’s 9-7 in nine innings in a Division I sectional final last year but lost to eventual regional finalist Anthony Wayne by an identical 9-7 score in a district semifinal.

St. John’s, which has won three of the five previous TRAC titles, also returns four conference honorees.

Back for fifth-year coach Greg Christian are 2016 All-TRAC first-teamers Nick Walters (center field, .321) and Jared Talecky (1B, .329), plus second-team picks Michael Fleck (SS-P, .333) and Keyaunte Jones (2B, .352). All four are seniors. Other top players are expected to be seniors Blake Williams (3B) and Joey Sabol (OF), and junior Alex Foulkes (OF).

“Pitching will be our strong point, with five starters coming back,” Christian said. “We have McCoy Butler, Michael Fleck, Caleb Bidenharn, Joey Sabol, and Tommy Hurley back on the mound.”

Christian said another key will be filling the graduation void left by first-team All-TRAC catcher Sam McClurg. Junior Brandon Horman and sophomore Zach Businger are battling for time behind the plate.

Clay also must fill a graduation void, with the loss of TRAC first-teamers Chandler Cannon (P, 3-1, 0.45 ERA, .359 average) and Zach Brown (OF-P, 2-2, 1.05 ERA, .423).

Back to lead fourth-year coach Jim Phillips’ Eagles are seniors Christian Orr (SS, .365), who was first-team All-TRAC, and Jon Quinlan (C, .297, 17 RBI), who was a second-team selection.

Other key returning personnel for Clay should be seniors Jake Lingohr (P-OF, 4-1) and Kyle Daly (P, 3-0), sophomore Jack Winckowski (OF), and sophomore Palmer Yenrick (IF-P).

“Defense will be the strength of this team,” Phillips said. “If we are able to get two pitchers to step into our Nos. 3 and 4 spots in the rotation, we should be solid there as well.

“The challenge for this team will be finding a consistent offensive balance, and not relying on a few guys to drive in the lion’s share of runs. If we can do that, we can be successful.”

Central Catholic might not be projected as a title contender with its inexperience on the mound, but the Irish of 31st-year coach Jeff Mielcarek should have the ingredients to challenge the top three teams on any given day.

Leading the way is the sophomore duo of Jase Bowen (SS, .363) and Andrew Parker (C-OF), along with seniors Alex Heban (3B-OF) and Austin Lepiarz (C). Bowen was second-team All-TRAC as a freshman.

Leading the pitching corps are senior returnees Hagan Gardner and Brett McCauley, who also is an outfielder.

“We are very young with very little returning pitching,” Mielcarek said. “Seventy-five percent of our innings pitched last season graduated.

“We need to play solid defense and grow into our inexperienced pitching staff.”

Whitmer returns five starters plus one other letterwinner in its quest to climb into the top half of the standings under second-year coach Brad Densmore.

The Panthers will launch that quest behind seniors Jeremey Bieniek (C), Tanner Boros (P-OF, .302, 2-1 record, 1.37 ERA), Alec Bukowski (IF-P, 2-1, 2.76 ERA), and Owen Burnett (P-1B, 2-1, 0.79 ERA), and junior infielder-pitcher Sammy Stickels (.360, 18 RBIs, 25 stolen bases). Stickels was second-team All-TRAC.

“We will be young and inexperienced, graduating nine seniors from last year and returning only three everyday starters,” Densmore said. “We are going to rely heavily on our senior pitchers to keep us competitive.”

Findlay (11-15, 9-5) must rebuild on the mound, especially with the graduation of TRAC pitcher of the year Chandler Stillings (3-3, 0.81 ERA).

The Trojans of 10th-year coach Jeff Stutzman (154-125 record) will count on six returning letterwinners.

Back are seniors Avery Wirt (P-OF), Todd Federici (OF), and Eric Johnson (3B-SS), juniors Cameron Dillon (P-2B-OF) and Anthony Gonzalez (1B), and sophomore Tyler Lydick (P-2B).

“We lost a lot of pitching from last year, but we should be OK,” Stutzman said. “We will have to hit better. If we hit, and manufacture some runs, we should be able to compete with anyone. This is a tough league, so we might not be deep enough in pitching to compete for the title. But, we will win our share. We’re only going to get better as the season goes on.”

Fremont Ross (7-20, 4-10) has six starters and three other letterwinners back for 11th-year coach Mark King, who will look for leadership from senior shortstop-pitcher Grant Gallagher (.299), who was second-team All-TRAC a year ago.

Also contributing significantly should be catcher Josiah Cook (16 RBIs), outfielder-pitcher Jacob Paxson, pitcher Trey Ickes, and outfielder-pitcher Noah Hotz (19 RBIs).

“While still very young in the TRAC, we gained valuable experience last season starting three freshmen and three sophomores,” King said. “We believe our level of confidence will allow us to compete with all the elite teams in the TRAC.”

There basically is no direction to go but up for Lima Senior (3-22, 0-14), and third-year coach T.J. Neuhaus sees the potential in his Spartans to do that.

Back to lead the way is senior outfielder Josiah Shoemaker, who was named second-team All-TRAC last season. Also helping in the Spartans’ mission to improve are seniors Darius Collins, Jordan Lentz, Stephen Jordan, J’aun Bevis, and D’Niyae Morris, junior Adonis Fox, and sophomore James Gaines.

“We have a hungry group that has a good mix of seniors and young players,” Neuhaus said. “I’m excited for the potential of this group.”

Contact Steve Junga at: sjunga@theblade.com, or 419-724-6461 or on Twitter @JungaBlade.

First Published March 28, 2017, 4:19 a.m.