Change is the only thing that seems to be holding steady for the Penn men's baseball team.
Coming off a disappointing 11-26 season in which Penn lost 14 of its last 17 games, the young Quakers squad is also facing a unique challenge -- a new coach.
John Cole is replacing Bob Seddon, who retired last year after 34 seasons at the helm.
At Division III Rowan in New Jersey, Cole led the Profs to an impressive 229-73 record and five NCAA Tournament appearances in seven years as head coach.
So far, Cole has been pleased with the "coachability" of his new players, but he has already encountered the difficulty that comes with teaching some of the established leaders a new style of play.
"Everybody here is a freshman," Cole said. "You don't have upperclassmen teaching the system ... so therefore it's a little more challenging to get everyone on the same page quickly."
But he was quick to stress that the talent and health of the team will be just as important as its effort level.
"Whether we have enough ammo in the gun to go big-game hunting, we're going to find out real quick," he said.
That ammunition may have to come from some unlikely sources, as the departure of 12 seniors last year has thrown many lineup spots up for grabs.
"We're a young team right now," senior infielder Sean Abate said. It "makes everybody work that much harder. ... Nobody has anything given to them. ... We haven't earned anything yet."
The Quakers will be forced to earn their place rather quickly, as they open the year with a trip down to Florida to face Eckerd, Saint Leo and national powerhouses South Florida and Central Florida. The team will also face off against Maine -- which won 35 games last year -- in the Sunshine State before returning to Pennsylvania.
Penn will play Lafayette, Lehigh, Saint Joseph's, La Salle, Temple, Villanova and Rider throughout the non-conference season.
"Our non-league schedule is challenging, but I wouldn't call it overwhelming," Cole said. "The schedule is not a concern to me as much as the pitching depth is to handle" it.
That lack of depth on the mound will likely be the single biggest question mark for the Quakers. Starting pitchers Nick Francona and Andy Console are recovering from injuries, and Steven Schwartz and Michael Gibbons enter the season with little experience in starting roles.
Cole also singled out the middle infield, third base and catcher positions as having no set starter. And as a result, the batting order is anything but set in stone.
"We've already probably shuffled the lineup two or three times [in the] pre-season," he said.
"Two through five, we have an idea. After that, it's going to be who can fill those spots in the lineup."
The Quakers will return a good deal of power in Abate and sophomores Alex Nwaka and Kyle Armeny, who had a .447 slugging percentage last year.
Cole said that the team will be focusing on how to play up to game speed in its final days of practice before the season opener.
"They're not used to that. I think that's the biggest thing, is getting them to understand that it's for real at practice ... so that when the game comes, you've already done that."
