MOBILE, Ala. – Spring Hill College (SHC) head baseball coach Frank Sims enters the final year of the Badgers' Provisional Membership in transition to NCAA Division II status with a different style of team from the previous three seasons. "In recent years, we've relied more on the power and productivity of our offense," he says. "But this year we are shaping up to be more of a pitching and defensive club. We'll still score runs, but we'll focus more on singles and doubles than home runs. We'll have to be a bit craftier in how we approach the game."
 
On the mound, Sims says his pitching staff is deeper than it has been over the past few seasons. "Our staff is a good mix of older experienced guys as well as some new talented younger guys," he says. "We have several guys who can either start or come in for relief in the middle innings and that's a nice option to have." In the early days of the 2018 campaign, Sims sees junior Austin Barrios of Madisonville, La., red shirt freshman Jonathan Williams from Mobile's Cottage Hill Christian Academy (CCCA), and junior transfer Luke Dykes from Pensacola State College stepping into the roles of the weekend starters. During the week, Sims will look to a variety of arms as freshman Lucas Kunkel of Eureka, Mo., appears ready to step up while fellow freshman Nicholas Dempsey from Faith Academy in Mobile, sophomore AJ Fell of Aurora, Colo., junior transfer Zach Paulene from Coastal Alabama East Community College, and freshman Michael Cabeza from Miami, Fla., will all see time as starters and relievers.
 
The Badgers will have a strong staff of relief pitchers this season with sophomore Michael Romano from Covington, La., and graduate student transfer Rob Ewald from Lafayette College leading the charge. Red shirt freshman transfer Grant Schroeder from Arkansas State University, left-handed junior Will Shaw from Coastal Alabama North Community College, returning graduate student Steven Saucier of Covington, and junior transfer Jean-Paul Aberouette from Skyline College in California will each see innings in relief throughout the season.
 
On defense, Spring Hill will feature a young but experienced infield. "We don't have many seniors on our roster this year," says Sims. "But all of our starters have experience simply because they were used so much last year. Our youth is actually a little deceptive." Junior Maverick Latour of Folsom, La., will move from the middle infield to third base to start the season and sophomore Daniel Rodriguez of Coral Gables, Fla., will return to his role at shortstop. Junior transfer John Sklopan from Coastal Alabama South Community College steps into the second baseman's role while first base and designated hitter will be handled on a rotating basis by senior Chase Crump of Daphne, Ala., and sophomore Hunter Romero of Covington. Other infielders who will appear during the year are senior second baseman Brandon Donoghue from McGill-Toolen Catholic High School in Mobile, senior middle infielder Keaton Smith from Meridian, Miss., freshman Mason Bonnaffons of New Orleans, La., on the corners, and junior Alex Hunt of Eunice, La., at third base.
 
Sophomore Neil Ring of Appomattox, Va., will handle the catching duties with junior Brennan Fontenot of Greenwell Springs, La., helping to share the load. Senior transfer Spencer Miller from the University of New Orleans will accept a medical red shirt this season in preparation for the 2019 campaign.
 
Sims faces his toughest decisions in the outfield. "Our outfield is really kind of a tossup right now," he says. "We have several good players to choose from, so it will probably be a mix of players throughout the year." Sims narrows the starters down to a top five players that includes sophomore Justin Collier from Baker High School in Mobile, junior transfer Luke Wall from Coastal Alabama South, freshman Grayson Williams from Mobile Christian School, junior Gavin Crimmins of Cumming, Ga., and Garrett Dearaujo of Birmingham, Ala.  Sims stresses that the Badger outfield is far from settled and the early season will be an experiment to sort out the lineup. Transfer junior Chet Silveria from Skyline College, junior Nicholas Chiasson of Mandeville, La., and sophomore Jacob Brannan from Baker HS are hot on their heels and will definitely make their presences known throughout the process. Junior transfer outfielder Joseph Guidry from Northwest Florida State College will accept a red shirt.
 
The 2018 SHC schedule is going to test the young Badgers right out of the gate as the first month of play features a string of some of the top teams in the Southeast. "We'll take some lumps early," admits Sims. "If we can come out of February with a .500 record, I'll be okay with that result because we are facing highly ranked Division II and NAIA competition. The tough early season will only make us better. Taking on the likes of West Florida, Palm Beach Atlantic and Tampa is where we prepare for next year. It shows our players that we can either play with these elite teams or it shows us what we have to do to get better."
 
Overall, Sims is confident that the Badgers will ultimately be a team the fans will enjoy watching. "We have a good team chemistry," he says. "We have a lot of youthful enthusiasm, a nice mix of talents, and the team really enjoys being together and playing as a unit. We'll be a different Badger team this year, but it's going to be a fun ride."
 
The Badgers will square off against the Auburn University at Montgomery (AUM) Warhawks on Friday at 3 p.m. on historic Stan Galle Field in the season opener for both squads.