SAN ANTONIO — St. Mary's Baseball's coaches and players have referred to their trek to the national title in recent seasons as "climbing a mountain."
Last season, they nearly made it to the top. This season, they're hoping to break on through.
Inching closer and closer each season, winning the last three Heartland Conference championships, the 2012 Rattler baseball team climbed higher than the Rattlers had in 10 years, returning to the national tournament for the first time since winning it all in 2001.
The Rattlers will attempt to defend their NCAA Division II South Central Regional championship in the 2013 season, which gets underway Friday with a three-game series against conference foe Newman University. The series begins with a single game Friday at 3 p.m. at Wolff Stadium.
St. Mary's will also gun for its fourth straight Heartland Conference title, eyeing a return to the national tournament as it once again sees how far it can climb that metaphorical mountain to the national title.
Advancing deep into postseason play, the Rattlers' extended season allowed players to bond over their once-in-a-lifetime experience, providing an advantage of possible increased chemistry for a more in-sync team in 2013 looking to repeat last year's journey.
A majority of the national tournament team will return for 2013 with the exception of two key leaders: catcher M.P. Cokinos, who was drafted by the Houston Astros, and first baseman Tyler Migl, who wrapped up his four-year Rattler career at the College World Series in Cary, N.C. Seven seniors will suit for the new season to go along with seasoned sophomores and juniors, plus the addition of several new faces — all of whom must work to duplicate the sort of leadership displayed last year.
Going 49-11 overall last season and 31-5 in the Heartland Conference, the Rattlers' success has them ranked No. 1 in the conference preseason poll, No. 1 in the nation by D2 Baseball News and No. 5 nationally in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper preseason poll.
The Rattlers will bank on their talented mound that took the nation's best team ERA all the way to the College World Series, with All-American starters
Rene Solis (Jr., San Antonio) and
Carl O'Neal (Sr., San Antonio) and the nation's saves leader
Jonathan Perez (RS-Sr., San Antonio) gearing to lead the division once more. St. Mary's lost All-Conference starting pitcher Syke Severns in the No. 3 hole, which opens a possible slot for the anticipated debut for second baseman
Mario Maldonado's (So., Laredo, Texas) pitching career, as he reigned last season as the Rattlers' starting second baseman. Slugger
Billy Richard (Sr., Schertz, Texas) figures to challenge for another stat-leading season at the plate, with newcomers
Derek Hamilton (Lake Jackson, Texas) and
Matt Bienek (Jr., Bulverde, Texas) hoping to added additional power to the Rattler offense.
At the center of the Rattlers' talent and stamina is head coach
Charlie Migl. Migl was named National Coach of the Year last season and will be itching for his 1,000th career win in 2013, as he currently sits just 25 wins away from the milestone. If and when Migl records win No. 1,000, he will join an exclusive coaching fraternity to have reached the mark, as only nine NCAA Division II baseball coaches have clipped 1,000 wins in the history of the sport.
With the conference and nation already eyeing the Rattlers, Migl and his squad will rely on their composure, talent and team work ethic to challenge, meet and surpass expectations.
Which would mean touching the top of that mountain.
St. Mary's University, as a Catholic Marianist University, fosters the formation of people in faith and educates leaders for the common good through community service, integrated liberal arts and professional education, and academic excellence. The University has six athletic national titles: men's basketball (1989–NAIA), baseball (2001–NCAA Div. II), softball (1986–NAIA and 2002–NCAA Div. II) and an individual national champion in men's golf (2006–NCAA Div. II) and a national academic championship in men's golf (2009–NCAA Div. II). St. Mary's also had more than 40 percent of its athletes named to conference, regional and/or national honor rolls this past year. St. Mary's student–athletes graduation rate is 65 percent, higher than the NCAA Division II average of 55 percent. To learn more about St. Mary's, visit www.stmarytx.edu/athletics.
