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ALBANY, GA -- There's an air of excitement around Darton State baseball. The Cavaliers are packed with enough talent to make head coach Scot Hemmings cautiously optimistic.

“There's a lot of talent out here. And I'll say it again...it doesn't mean anything. it doesn't translate in to wins or a conference championship, but there is a ton of talent and they're fun to watch," Coach Hemmings said.

In his second season at the helm, Coach Hemmings has found his championship-type guys hoping to build off a 2012 banner year. The Cavaliers won 34 games and earned their first national ranking last season. Now, the players are looking for more.

“Last year, I felt like we were a bunch of guys...about like 'the island of misfit toys'. We didn't have any of the big name guys,” Catcher Davis Knapp said. “This year, we have every piece of the puzzle, we just have to get it to fit together.”

The Cavaliers have certainly put some power together. With a stronger line up, opposing outfielders will get a workout from the middle of the line up. While the Darton rotation has everyone taking notice.

“I think our pitching staff is really, really good and I think we can be great offensively too. We have a lot of talent and it's just going to come down to how we gel together,” sophomore Tripp Calhoun said.

The Cavalier sophomores aren't taking any chances. The leaders held a players-only meeting the first day of practice to set the tone. The message was clear to all on the Cavalier Field- finish what was started in the fall.

“(The message) was just grind it out everyday. It doesn't start with the first game. It starts with the first day of practice and it continues to grind everyday. Through, what we eat and how well we sleep...we're going to keep grinding,” first baseman Casey James said.

“Yeah, we got our first national ranking (last season), but we've got to really focus on the task at the end of the tunnel not just the journey there,” Knapp added.

With the toughest non-region schedule, the early games won't do Darton many favors. The Cavs may not see a NJCAA national ranking in the first few months. That's alright with this team- the Cavaliers just want to see Grand Junction, Colorado- the site of the NJCAA Baseball World Series.

“If we get there (a national ranking) great, but that is not our focus. Our focus is March 6 against South Georgia, and our focus is all the way through May,” Coach Hemmings said.

The Darton season opens Friday with four games in Panama City at the Gulf Coast First Pitch Classic Tournament.