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ALBANY, GA -- This year, everything is fresh on the Darton College baseball field. It’s a new season, with a new coach and mostly new players for the two year program.

Only six sophomores currently hold spots on the Cavaliers roster, but those six are stepping up in big ways.

“With the coaching change, (we) didn't know what we were going to come in to, but when we came in, we knew that we were in a great situation,” sophomore Bryant Alonso said.

The 20-33 Darton record from last season is gone and done. The Cavs officially wipe the slate clean Friday in Panama City, Florida, and have a clear mission in mind.

“This is a business trip,” Head Coach Scot Hemmings said.

Particularly, Darton expects to be all business on the mound. Hemmings and his coaches have placed a lot of emphasis on the pitching. Starting in the fall, the Cavalier coaches whittled their pitching staff from 28 all the way down to 13.

“We told them that we wanted to find 13 (players) that could throw three pitches for a strike and we found 13 that can do that,” Hemmings said.

The Darton rotation will be anchored by Savannah freshman Tyler Oglesby and Valdosta State transfer Matt Aldrich, but the Cavs arms go beyond those two pitchers.

“Pitching is definitely going to be a strength of ours this year. I think we have five or six guys we can throw at any time,” Oglesby said.

“We have a great pitching staff. I think we can compete with anybody in the state of Georgia at the junior college level,” Alonso added.

Throw in the right combination of a small ball mentality and speed on the basepaths, and this may be a special season for Darton. The Cavalier players certainly expect a lot from this team.

“Darton's never won the conference that is true but...we'd like to be the first ones and I think we have the team this year,” Alonso said.