EUGENE -- There are a number labels that still fit the University of Oregon baseball team, but nobody should think of the 2011
as young and inexperienced.
This is only the third season since the Ducks resurrected their program after a 26-year hiatus, but the newness wore off last season after coach
led his team to a fifth-place finish in the Pacific-10 Conference and at-large berth into the 2010 NCAA tournament.
The Ducks returned to the field Monday for the start of fall practice at PK Park, opening workouts with 20 players from last year's team that went 40-23 and lost to Florida State in the finals of the Norwich Regional.
The team is scheduled to scrimmage Saturday at noon at PK Park before the No. 5 Ducks football team takes on Portland State at 3:15 p.m. at Autzen Stadium.
"Now that this is the third year, we can no longer say we're a brand new baseball program," Horton said. "We've got upperclassman, we've got a junior class, and we've got guys that have had a couple years under their belt, which is the normal shelf-life of a really good baseball player.
"You take the kids that we've developed the last two years, and you add what we think is potentially a pretty spectacular recruiting class, and I think we might be ready to make a little bit of a splash in college baseball this year."
Horton isn't taking anything away from what the Ducks accomplished last season when they were one of college baseball's surprise teams, at one point winning consecutive conference series against Stanford, UCLA, USC and Washington State and rising as high as No. 15 in Baseball America's poll.
But when he says make a splash, he means he thinks the Ducks are ready to contend for a Pac-10 title, play host to a NCAA regional and super-regional, and advance to the College World Series in Omaha.
"We always talk about going to Omaha," Horton said. "We did in the first year, and we did in the second year, but I truly expect this group to compete to go to the College World Series and compete there. I think we're ready to do that.
“I think we’re a team that’s not favored to do that, but I think we’re a team that a lot of people expect that to happen, including my players and coaches. Anything short of that would be a disappointment to us at this point.
“We have no reason not to think that way or not believe that we’re going to do it. We’re not a young team anymore. We’ve got veteran players and three years of recruiting classes, and the time in now, the place is here, and we expect that to happen."
The players seem to be buying into everything Horton is preaching, including going to Omaha and winning a national championship.
“I think it’s very realistic,” sophomore third baseman J.J. Altobelli said. “We have the coaching staff that can do that, we have the players that can do that, and we have the drive. We have lot of motivation.
“Last year, when we lost in Connecticut and all of us were crying out in right field … none of us want to have the feeling again. We want to be crying together in Omaha, and it’s going to be happy tears this time.”
The Ducks have 42 players on the roster, but will cut that down to 35 before the Feb. 18 season opener at Hawaii. The schedule has yet to be made official, but there are tentative plans to follow up the Hawaii trip with weekend series against Saint Mary’s, Long Beach State, BYU, San Diego and Wichita State.
Among the top priorities finding a new catcher to replace departed Eddie Rodriguez and trying to fortify the offense with a little more power.
Brett Hambright, a junior college transfer from Riverside (Calif.) College, and incoming freshmen Aaron Jones and Stefan Sabol are the top prospects at catcher. Sophomore first baseman Jack Marder also expected to see some time behind the plate.
The Ducks also are counting newcomers Kyle Garlick, Connor Hofmann and Tyler Kuresa to add some pop to what was often an anemic offense the past two seasons.
“I don’t anticipate leading the country in sacrifice bunts this year,” Horton said. “Bunting will still be a big part of our offense -– base-hit bunting and the sacrifice game –- but I think we’ll let them swing away a little more frequently, and hit-and-run and steal bases more frequently than we have the last couple years.
“I guess the biggest question is how soon those first-year guys arrive. They’re going to be tremendous players. If they know it, that’s a plus. And if the learning curve doesn’t take too long for them to believe they can hit in the middle of a Division I batting order and be productive like they were in high school or junior college, then we're going to be in good shape.”
Last season, the Pac-10 qualified a record eight teams into the post-season with Arizona State and UCLA reaching the College World Series.
“I’ve always thought the conference was under-represented, anyway,” Horton said. “There has been five and six, but for me the seventh- and eighth-place team in the Pac-10 each and every year are teams that could be at the top of the Big West or the WCC, in my opinion.
“I think the selection committee finally got it right. And certainly we all rode the coattails of ASU and UCLA being undefeated 20-some games into the season.”
-- Jim Beseda