The Wabash College baseball team learned the hard way last season games are not won on paper. It was voted to finish first by North Coast Athletic Conference coaches last year, but failed to make the NCAC Tournament.

This year, Wabash was picked to finish fourth in the conference. Wooster garnered nine first-place votes and earned the top spot in the preseason rankings. DePauw received the final first-place vote and finished second with Ohio Wesleyan coming in third.

“Following last year, I was disappointed in myself more than anyone else,” Coach Cory Stevens said. “We needed to teach these guys how to be good leaders so over the summer, Coach (Will) Vasquez and I developed the Wabash Leadership Training Series.”

The purpose of the Wabash Leadership Training Series is to improve the team's leadership and cohesiveness. Captains JT Miller, Montana Timmons, Robby Hechinger, and Chris Widup participated in the series this offseason. John Penn also participated even though he is not a captain.

“They've had Friday lunch meetings with school and community leaders, developed a mission statement for the program, and read different books on leadership,” Stevens said. “You can tell a difference in our team from last year to this year as far as cohesiveness. Everybody plays a role and I see a much more positive environment than I've seen in past years.”

“One of the main things we've learned is that there's not a precise way to be a leader,” Miller said.

Wabash track and field coach Clyde Morgan hosted the quintet for one of its lunch meetings. After this meeting, the captains developed their “Ante Up” motto for the season.

“It just means to buy in,” Timmons said. “We want everyone to come to practice and come to play prepared, focus, and give it all they have.”

The top of the batting order underwent drastic change this offseason. The Wabash-record holders for all-time hits (Chris Deig) and home runs (John Holm) graduated last spring. However, Coach Stevens is confident in the overall roster strength.

“I think we have more depth this year than in the past,” he said. “We might have had stand-out players in certain spots the past two years, but now we have multiple guys at every position that we could plug in at any time and feel confident in their benefits.”

Timmons will be cornerstone of the offense. He'll likely bat in the three hole again and is eager to improve upon his impressive numbers from last season. He hit .363, 36 RBI's, and a .510 slugging percentage. Timmons registered two home runs, however, but he thinks that total will increase this year after he changed his approach in a New York-summer league.

“During last season, I was really trying to see the ball deep and go the opposite way,” the two-time First-Team All-Conference selection explained. “But I'm a big guy and definitely have the capability to produce power numbers which I wanted to do. I tried pulling the ball more this summer and my average stayed high. I also hit a lot more home runs and got even got selected to the home-run derby.

“If I saw my average drop or wasn't as good as contact hitter, I would've switched back, but it didn't. That just comes with a mature approach to the plate.”

In the field, the Little Giants are set to make improvements from last season.

“I think we struggled defensively last year more than we anticipated,” Stevens said. “We started freshmen at catcher, third base, second base, and first base at times. Those are pretty key spots to have freshmen in the starting lineup. Those guys went through some growing pains but they have a year of experience under their belts.”

The pitching rotation's top end will be as good as it gets in the NCAC this year. Miller will serve as the staff ace and Widup will provide a reliable number two. Miller went 5-3 last year with a 2.39 ERA —second-lowest among NCAC pitcher — and a conference-best 76 strikeouts.

This will be Widup's fourth year as a starter. He posted a 3-4 record last season, but has won big games for the team in the past, including the 2011 conference championship game.

The back end of the rotation is still unsettled. Stevens listed Luke Holm, Josh Piercey, and Christian Vukas the frontrunners for the final two spots.

Miller worked on his mental game in the offseason while his teammates battled each other for starting roles.

“Coach Vasquez has worked with me a lot on the mental side of reading swings and being smart on the mound,” Miller said. “If I throw a fastball to a right-handed hitter and he fouls it off to the right, he's behind my fastball. So it wouldn't be the best idea to throw a changeup the next pitch.”

Miller and the Little Giants scheduled season opener Saturday at Otterbein College in Chillicothe, OH was canceled due to weather.

The next game is scheduled at Baldwin-Wallace College in Nashville, TN with a 5 p.m. first pitch.

“I'd be surprised if we don't return to the conference tournament and make some noise,” Stevens said. “Winning the conference is at the lower end of the list of our goals.”

The Little Giants paid their ante. Now it's time to cash in.