Is the best yet to come?

UNCW’s baseball team, coming off its stronger season ever, eyes bigger things this year.

Last year, the Seahawks advanced to the Baton Rouge Regional Final in their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance, set a school record for victories with a 40-23 mark and set a program milestone for the most victories in CAA play (15-6).

To match or surpass last year’s milestones, the Seahawks must fill the shoes of eight key players from last year, four of whom signed major league contracts. Those names include starting pitchers Brad Overton (7-2, 2.99 ERA), Jake Mullis (8-5, 3.81 ERA) and Chris Coughlin, along with UNCW all-time hits leader Jamie Hemmingway (.363 avg., 11 HR, 60 RBIs, 31 SB).

This year’s team has 21 returning players, and seven of whom played major roles on last year’s squad.

Included in the seven are Honorable Mention All-America senior relief pitcher Blake Cross (2.04 ERA, 13 saves) and Freshman All-American outfielder Matt Sutton (.317, 12 HR). Returning starters from last year also include senior outfielders Chip Grawey (.358, 22 SB) and Brad Denson (.345).

“This year we are a run-scoring team. We have a good mix of speed and power and should be able to manufacture runs to win ballgames,” UNCW coach Mark Scalf said.

The team also brought in nine newcomers who make up one of the strongest recruiting classes ever at UNCW. Five of those nine are pitchers looking to get into the starting rotation.

The newcomers look to augment a young pitching staff that includes only one returning starter, Ronald Hill (7-2).

“I feel like we are as talented as last year’s team but we still have a lot of question marks,” Scalf said. “We lost a lot of good pitching from last year and it will be interesting to see who steps up for us and fills that role.” The team also understands that it isn’t just offense, pitching and defense that will win games. The squad feels the talent exists for return trip to the postseason, but team chemistry will make or break the 2004 edition.

“We have so many new guys and we lost so many leaders last year that I think chemistry is going to be more important than anything else. We have the talent and we have the experience, but it has to mesh for us to do what we need to do,” Cross said.

“The team chemistry has come along in the last couple of weeks with practicing and lifting together each day,” said senior Chip Grawey.

The Seahawks face a challenging schedule tackling the likes of NCAA Tournament teams South Carolina, N.C. State and East Carolina, along with solid programs such as Virginia Tech and UNC-Greensboro. The CAA, one of baseball’s stronger conferences, also looks very competitive entering the season. UNCW will host the CAA tournament at the conclusion of the season.

The Seahawks’ first game of the 2004 season will be on Feb. 14 against the UNC-Greensboro’s Spartans. The game is set for a 2 p.m. opening pitch.