Mitchell baseball team taking aim at another NCAA tourney appearance

Mitchell College baseball has enjoyed its share of glory days in recent years. Check out this impressive resume: Seventy nine wins in the last three seasons. Two straight New England Collegiate Conference tournament championships, resulting in consecutive trips to the NCAA Division III tournament. Two straight NECC regular-season titles.

It's become the school's most successful Division III program.

And it's all just part of fifth-year coach Travis Beausoleil's master plan.

When Beausoleil was hired, he set lofty goals but remained focused on daily progress, instilling a committed work ethic and developing a winning mentality.

"I was very green and didn't really know," Beausoleil said. "I remember saying in my interview that my goal is to win a national championship. It's still my goal. That's why I'm here, that's why I'm in college athletics. I was very successful as a player and got to go to a bunch of regionals. But I never got to a World Series and I want to bring a team to the World Se- ries.

"After the first year, 10-18, it was kind of eye-opening what it would take and what we needed. But we turned it around and really became the program to beat."

The Mariners, who leave for a 10-game Florida road trip on Thursday, start the 2016 season on Friday against Otterbein College in a familiar spot.

For the third straight season, the Mariners are the preseason pick to win the NECC. Mitchell returns the heart of its pitching staff that contributed to a program-best 32 wins (32-7) and went 16-2 in league play. But the Mariners are replacing nearly all of their starting position players.

"Preseason rankings really go over what last year's team was," Beauso-

leil said. "It's a new team, just like it is every year. I think we're very talented. We just have to continue to get better."

Thanks to a mild winter, the Mariners are better prepared to open the season than last year. During preseason, they practiced outside all but about 12 days.

Nothing beats workouts on the field. "There are things that we can do in the gym, but we need to see live situations to try to push these guys," he said. "We've got a young lineup. They need to go through it. The time outside has been very beneficial."

It will take awhile for Beausoleil to figure out a starting lineup, something that never was a problem with last year's experienced team. Five or six positions are still up for grabs. Several promising newcomers are competing for playing time.

As far as starting position players, the Mariners return only right fielder Neftali Arroyo (.327, 5 home runs, 26 RBI), second baseman Kyle Hartenstein (.313, 26 RBI) and designated hitter Tyler Pina (. 392, one home run, 29 RBI). They lost their top three run producers in Ryan Goodwin, Rafael Garcia and Kenneth Olszewski, who combined for 107 RBI.

"We're younger than we were last year," Beausoleil said. "We've got to grow up a little bit quicker in order to maintain the success that we've had. ... Offensively and defensively, there were a lot of guys that walked out the door with a degree and a couple of championships that we'll miss. But that's college baseball."

On the plus side, Mitchell's pitching staff is first rate.

Fitch High School graduate Al Jordan Johnson (10-1, 2.58), the NECC pitcher of the year, and fellow se- nior Tyler Shamas (7-2, 2.59), who ranks among the best arms ever to compete for Mitchell, anchor a deep, veteran rotation. Sophomore Eddie Santiago of New London will move from the bullpen to the starting rotation. Freshman Nic Vlaun, a Norwich Free Academy graduate, will likely earn some quality innings.

The Florida trip, which features some stiff competition, will help the Mariners prepare for what lies ahead. Beausoleil will have a better feel for his team by the time Mitchell returns home. While the roster has changed, the route to success hasn't.

"I don't think we've ever settling...," Beausoleil said. "It's been a great progression. We've got good talented young ball players here. Hopefully, we've got it going on all cylinders.” g.keefe@theday.com Twitter: @GavinKeefe