We've had good preparation because of it. It was kind of a wakeup call for a lot of the guys that are back and for the coaches and everybody. I feel like we have something to go out and prove -- that we're better than what we did last year, more than anything.

We've forced the other team to hit to beat us. We've forced them to put the ball in play and we've made the plays behind them -- and that's something we didn't do last year. We didn't play good defense behind our pitching and we walked too many guys and we've cleaned up those areas. It's really been a difference for us.

Our pitching staff is probably the biggest question mark for us, because we don't have anybody coming back that was dominant last season, that had 10 wins, they you can say, 'Hey give this guy the ball and he'll go out there and give us a win.' We don't have Brian Baker anymore. We've got some guys that are talented and we'll probably have to use more guys and develop some roles.

We think we will really be solid in the infield. Now in the outfield, we've got some new guys, we've got some young guys and we'll see. But we're bringing back three guys (in the infield) who've played there for three years and a guy who's a junior-college transfer who has experience at the college level.

He's kind of what makes us go. He's our team captain. He doesn't say much, but it's just the way he plays and the way he goes about his business that makes him our sparkplug.

We're not a young club, but we've only got a couple seniors. We're really kind of a junior-dominated club right now, so we've got a chance to be pretty good this year, but I think next year might really be our year.