The article below originally appeared in the San Mateo Daily Journal and is being reprinted with permission.

Up at the College of San Mateo, there is a team of 34 baseball players who, quite frankly, are sick and tired of seeing each other.

With newly-adopted changes to the CCCAA rules, it’s been a long time since the Bulldogs have seen another team because a handful of scrimmages are now illegal. So after way too many intrasquad games, manager Doug Williams summed up the feeling in two very simple words: “Let’s play.”

“We’re hungry and ready to play, to see another opponent,” Williams said. “You can turn the scoreboard on and get umpires, but, we need to see another opponent and get a gauge of where we are, which would be very helpful.”

Fall ball only amongst the Bulldogs’ boys means CSM enters the new season with a lot of question marks — this despite enjoying the initial No. 1 ranking in the Northern California coaches’ poll.

“That’s on paper,” Williams said. “But that’s about all it really is to me. It has no bearing on what this year is. We’ll certainly be tested early. We really go in a little bit blind if you will. But you really don’t know until you get the other team in the dugout and see how guys perform.”

CSM captain and returning All-American shortstop Brandon Defazio shares the sentiment.

“It’s just about competing,” he said. “You come into a traditional program, there are expectations that you have as a team and as a player. I mean, every day you have to come out ready to play, ready to compete and you can’t take a day off.”

Defazio’s words will be tested early on — the Bulldogs open the season on Friday with a big game against a strong Sierra College team. Then they turn around and welcome Reedley College. In all, the Bulldogs packed 12 non-conference games in a stretch of 23 days.

“We’re really excited to see what happens,” Williams said. “We’re going have to be throwing a lot of pitchers out there. We’re a bit more unknown on the mound than we’ve been in previous years. At the same time, we have guys that are going to go there, compete and do well. They understand the philosophy and what we’re trying to do.”

Williams mentions the “unknown” of the pitching staff heading into this season and that stems primarily with the departure of three pitchers who made a combined 37 starts last year and Dylan Nelson, who signed early with the University of California at Berkeley after appearing in 19 games last season.

That leaves a staff of 17 pitchers with five total junior college starts and 54 combined appearances.

“In preparing for a new season, it’s physical but it’s also preparing mentally, it’s handling adversity, and seeing who has the ability to right themselves when things get a little shaky. Those things can only be seen in game atmosphere. We’re hoping to be pleasantly surprised by some in that area,” Williams said.

Former Burlingame High School ace Zac Grotz, along with Alex Pasha, will be looked upon to take on the initial load. They’ll be accompanied by former Carlmont Scot Daniel Madigan — one of only two left-handers on the squad this year.

“Daniel can pretty much control his destiny,” Williams said. “We’re going to need a left-hander to step up. He’s got the stuff and if he’s consistent, he can essentially be a starting pitcher for us.”

With such a young squad of hurlers, the defense takes on added importance.

“It doesn’t really put too much pressure,” Defazio said. “It’s our job as defenders to go out and make every play we can, to support them. That’s why it’s a team. We pick each other up. I think we’re definitely ready for the season to start.”

Defazio will patrol shortstop and he’ll have the support of returner Jeff VonMoser. Dane Vande Guche will have a large say on the infield along with players like utility man Trevin Craig. Dominic Orlando makes his way from the WCAL-tournament champion Serra Padres over to CSM where he’s see some time at first base.

Willams only lists two outfield-specific players on his roster, both freshman, but that’s is misleading considering CSM’s strength this year comes from it’s flexibility and multiplicity of its players.

Chief among those if All-American returner Joe Armstrong, who’s patrol centerfield after hitting .320 last season and slugging .444. Jarett Costa and his .295 average will be huge as well.

Pulling the strings though is Defazio, who hit .295 last year while slugging at a .462 clip. His .838 OPS and 19 extra-base hits led last season’s freshmen.

“We’ve had years where there has been nine guys in the lineup for just about the entire year,” Williams said. “I’ve had other years where you can mix and match. It’s fun to be able to do this. I think it’s something that we are considering one of our strengths this year.

“I think we can put together some pretty good lineups. We do have some versatility, what we can do with right-left matchups. We do have some team speed.”

And as always, the expectations at CSM could not be any higher — conference title, a spot in the Final Four and eventually a state title.

“That’s been an ongoing theme since I arrived in 1995 and will continue to be,” Wiliams said. “If they do change (expectations), I need to get out of coaching. That’s the way I’ve always looked at it.”