MONMOUTH, Ill. – The defending Midwest Conference Southern Division champion Monmouth College baseball team has something to prove.

Despite returning the majority of players from last year’s team, including 83 percent of the innings pitched, the Midwest Conference coaches picked the Fighting Scots second behind Illinois College. Coach Roger Sander has guided the Fighting Scots to 11 division titles in 15 years, including last season’s seventh straight, so you can understand why he might be a little miffed at the poll results. "I don’t like being the underdog," he said. "The Cinderella stories are great stories, but how many times does that really happen?"

Sander understands that the Scots may not have the marquee pitchers of the past, but he does have a solid group of eight who will see action. The Scots will build around a group of six juniors – Chris Albanese (Lansing, Ill./Thornton-Fractional South), Matt Bourne (Bloomington, Ill./Central Catholic), Drew Johnson (North Henderson, Ill./United), Brian Chandler (Athens, Ill./Athens), Matt Tye (Mundelein, Ill./Mundelein) and Chris Schwarz (Moline, Ill./Moline). Two seniors, Ryan Stubler (Crystal Lake, Ill./Prairie Ridge) and Ryan Priola (St. Charles, Ill./East), add even more depth to the rotation that will see action with three games in Carlinville, Ill., this weekend.

Big deal, lots of pitchers, but how many do you really need? This isn’t the Major Leagues, right?

Not exactly, but beginning this season, all conference dates will play two, nine inning games, instead of the previous years’ seven and nine inning double-headers. Sander won’t say that little change will favor the Scots’ bullpen, but acknowledges his pitching staff is deep. "Because we have so many quality arms, we may go with more of a Major League mentality," said Sander. "We’ll ask guys to give us five, six or seven good innings and then we’ll go to the pen. We have guys who can get people out, so I have confidence in all our guys."

The defense behind all those pitchers should be pretty solid. The Scots return experience at every position, including junior shortstop Kevin Sashko (Mundelein, Ill./Mundelein) who enters this season with a 22 game hitting streak. Senior Jake Bice (Colchester, Ill./West Prairie) and his .989 fielding percentage will likely be at first. It could get crowded at second where versatile senior Jake Gustafson (Wyanet, Ill./Bureau Valley) could be the early favorite, but he has company. Junior transfer Jake Virgo (Homewood, Ill./Homewood-Flossmoor), sophomore Tom Shaver (Mundelein, Ill./Mundelein) and freshman Payton Judy (Homer, Ill./Heritage) are waiting in the wings. It’s not so crowded at third, although Sander has three players in the mix. Stubler and Priola are both nursing injuries, so the healthier of the two will handle third, the other will be penciled is as the designated hitter. If neither is healed enough to make the throw from the hot corner, sophomore Brett Peterson (Burlington, Wis./Shoreland Lutheran) will come in from the outfield to handle the position and Stubler would move to left with Priola as the DH. There’s a battle raging behind the plate where junior Nick Basala (Matherville, Ill./Sherrard) has the early nod, but sophomore Chaz Baggio (Bedford Park, Ill./Argo) is "right on his heals."

Currently, four evenly matched outfielders with good speed are battling for three available spots. If Peterson isn’t needed at third, he’ll be in the mix with senior Matt McIntire (Stronghurst, Ill./Southern), junior Brian Wilhelm (Mundelein, Ill./Mundelein) and freshman Billy Herrin (Galesburg, Ill./Galesburg). McIntire is the most experienced of the four, playing 26 games last season with 13 starts.

Sander will have more options once a couple of basketball players get into baseball shape. Freshmen pitchers Corey Gruber (Abindgon, Ill./Abingdon) and Robbie Hinkle (Galesburg, Ill./Galesburg) will have just over a week to get ready before the Scots’ first games and Sander expects them to have an impact before the season is over. Gruber could also see time on the infield and Hinkle, who is coming back from an arm injury will likely see action in the outfield before taking the mound. Sander says originally, Hinkle was not expected to pitch this spring, but that decision will be based on his rehab process. "Initially, we were going to wait until next year, but we talked and he might be able to throw some this year," said an optimistic Sander. "If that does happen, it would be late, probably April. Once he’s healthy, he’ll help us in the field and on the mound."

Offensively, Sander believes his team will be able to score some runs, but don’t expect a home run barrage. "We’ll be a power-hitting team, but without the home runs," he predicted. "We’ll hit the ball hard. I think you’ll see a lot of doubles."

Opposing pitchers will face a smaller version of "Murderer’s Row." If they can keep the hot-hitting Sashko off base, and retire whoever is batting No. 2 that day, they’ll have to face a 3-4-5 order of Priola (.359) with team-highs of 39 RBIs and four home runs last season, Stubler (.345, 35 RBIs) and Bice (.375, 27 RBIs). But Sander warns, don’t count the bottom of the order out.

"You never know," said Sander. "Jeremy Kafka was the perfect example of that last year. He came up and had a monster year leading us in hitting (.439) and slugging percentage (.640). We could start five seniors. What if they do what Kafka did? We’d be pretty darn good."

Even if the Scots don’t have that "monster" year, with the entire infield and eight pitchers returning, they will be a solid contender to tie the school record with their eighth straight divisional title and prove their detractors wrong.