You can forgive the baseball team for undergoing a bit of an identity crisis. Losing half of your starting lineup can do that to a team.
The preseason polls seem familiar enough, pegging Duke to finish in the middle of the conference pack. But very little is certain for a team with an almost perfect dichotomy of four experienced starters and five newcomers.
Even coach Steve Traylor isn't sure exactly what he has.
"You look at our position players and we have three All-ACC players and [sophomore] J.D. Alleva, which is a lot of experience and a lot of production," Traylor said. "Then you have the other five players, [who] have a total of half a year's experience."
Perhaps the best illustration of the disparity is the infield.
On the left side, shortstop Vaughn Schill and third baseman Jeff Becker form arguably the best tandem in the ACC, if not the nation. Schill, a junior, is a preseason All-America selection and Duke's all-time batting leader (.377). Becker is a two-time All-ACC performer and stands poised to rewrite the offensive record books as a senior.
Among the marks Becker will likely shatter are: games played, at-bats, runs scored, hits and RBIs. Of course, Schill would break most of those marks next year-if he chooses not to turn pro.
But the infield is truly greener on the other side, as in raw and inexperienced. Freshman Kevin Kelly, a third-round draft pick of the Montreal Expos, will start at first base, with fellow rookie Scott Grossi at second.
Aside from Schill and Becker, the only position players with any real experience are DH Ed Conrey (.329, 16 HR, 76 RBI last year) and Alleva, who'll be switching from second base to catcher. That makes comparisons to last year's 38-20 squad futile.
"We lost [Michael] Fletcher, [Gregg] Maluchnik and [Jordan] Litrownik off of that team and those were three of the more productive players we've had here," Traylor said. "And we're replacing them with freshmen. We have to take a little bit of a step back to get those guys some experience.
"I think they're going to be good players, but they're not going to step right in and put those kind of numbers on the board, necessarily."
Wes Goodner, with 28 career starts, is the "veteran" of the outfield. Goodner will play center, flanked by freshman Gideon Thompson and sophomore David Mason. Mason started one game last year and Thompson was a high school shortstop.
With six ACC teams ranked in the preseason top 20, it's a difficult time to be rebuilding.
"Virtually everyone in the conference has their whole team back; the conference is as strong as it's ever been," Traylor said. "We're probably as different a team as there is in the conference."
The pitching staff mirrors the lineup in terms of the generation gap. Duke will build its rotation around four experienced pitchers, leaving a stable-full of unproven arms in the bullpen.
Between senior ace Stephen Cowie and sophomore Brent Reid, a 1998 Freshman All-America, the Blue Devils have a legitimate 1-2 punch on the mound. Whether or not the three and four spots, to be filled by Brad Dupree and Ryan Caradonna or Patrick Hannaway, can carry their weight will determine where Duke finishes in the league.
With an 11-man pitching staff, including recently converted first baseman John Benik, Traylor has as deep a group as ever. That's an improvement over the last few years, when injuries exposed a lack of depth and kept Duke from achieving its ultimate goal: an NCAA tournament regional bid.
"We've been on the verge of it for about the last six or seven years," Traylor said. "Generally you feel like you have to win 11 or 12 in the conference to get in a regional. The last seven years, we've averaged 10 wins a year.
"So we've been sitting on the doorstep for a long time, and I anticipate this season is going to be similar, in that we're a team that's capable of getting in that 10 to 12 win level in the conference or better."
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