NEW ORLEANS – Senior outfielder Luke Waters has been named to the 2025 Preseason All-Sun Belt Team, as announced by the league office on Wednesday afternoon. As a team, Old Dominion Baseball was picked to finish seventh in the Preseason Coaches' Poll, as voted on by the league's 14 head coaches.
A native of Laurel, Delaware, Waters earned a spot on the All-Sun Belt Second Team last season after leading the Monarchs with a .312 batting average, 68 hits, 113 total bases, and 21 multi-hit games. He was also second on the team with 218 at-bats, 44 RBIs and 19 stolen bases on 24 attempts. His other season totals included 11 home runs, one triple, 10 doubles, 34 runs, 23 walks and four sacrifice flies. He started all 57 games in right field for ODU in 2024.
There was no clear-cut favorite to win the league this season. Southern Miss received five first-place votes and 179 points for the top spot, though Troy is right behind them and was picked to finish second with four first-place votes and 178 points. Louisiana was selected third with three first-place votes and 174 points and Coastal Carolina is fourth with two first-place votes and 161 points.
CCU’s Caden Bodine was named this year’s Preseason Player of the Year while Preseason Pitcher of the Year honors went to Lousiana’s Chase Morgan.
ODU went 31-26 overall last season with a 15-15 mark in Sun Belt play. The Monarchs entered the Sun Belt Championship as the No. 8 seed and advanced to the double-elimination bracket with a 3-2 win over No. 9 seed South Alabama. Old Dominion then defeated regular season champion Louisiana, 7-3, but saw its season come to an end with losses to No. 5 Georgia Southern and No. 4 James Madison. Maverick Stallings and Jacob Gomez represented ODU on the All-Tournament Team, and John Holobetz was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the fifth round of the MLB Draft.
The Monarchs open their season a week from Friday when they head down to Atlanta for a three-game series at Georgia Tech. ODU’s season opener against the Yellow Jackets is scheduled for a 4 p.m. first pitch on Feb. 14 at Mac Nease Baseball Park at Russ Chandler Stadium. The two teams will then meet again for a 2 p.m. game on Saturday, Feb. 15 and round out the opening weekend with a 1 p.m. start on Sunday, Feb. 16.
2025 Sun Belt Conference Preseason Poll (first place votes in parentheses)
- Southern Miss (5) – 179
- Troy (4) – 178
- Louisiana (3) – 174
- Coastal Carolina (2) – 161
- Georgia Southern – 125
- James Madison – 106
- Old Dominion – 105
- Texas State – 102
- App State – 94
- South Alabama – 93
- Georgia State – 49
- Marshall – 46
- ULM – 34
- Arkansas State – 24
Preseason Player of the Year
Caden Bodine, Coastal Carolina (Jr., C – Haddon Heights, N.J.)
Preseason Pitcher of the Year
Chase Morgan, Louisiana (So., SP – Cypress, Texas)
Preseason All-Sun Belt Team
Chase Morgan, Louisiana (So., SP – Cypress, Texas)
Bryce Blevins, Marshall (Jr., SP – Louisa, Ky.)
Colby Allen, Southern Miss (Jr., SP – Louisville, Miss.)
Max Kuhle, James Madison (Jr., RP – Virginia Beach, Va.)
Caden Bodine, Coastal Carolina (Jr., C – Haddon Heights, N.J.)
Matthew Russo, Southern Miss (Jr., 1B – Madisonville, La.)
Blake Barthol, Coastal Carolina (Jr., 2B – Allentown, Pa.)
Ozzie Pratt, Southern Miss (Sr., SS – Alesville, Miss.)
Lee Amedee, Louisiana (Jr., 3B – Gonzales, La.)
Josh Tate, Georgia Southern (Jr., OF – Peachtree City, Ga.)
Luke Waters, Old Dominion (Sr., OF – Laurel, Del.)
Davis Gillespie, Southern Miss (RS So., OF – Birmingham, Ala.)
Ryan Dooley, James Madison (Sr., DH – Reston, Va.)
Nick Monistere, Southern Miss (Jr., UT – Brandon, Miss.)