Introduction
Each year in a baseball season is the turning of a new page. It comes with new personnel, different challenges and the opportunity for a team to write its own story. Well, 2019 will be the start of a whole new book for the PLNU Baseball program.
 
The first story begins with the hiring of Justin James as the new head coach of the Sea Lions. He rejoined the Sea Lions after serving the past two years as the pitching coach at UC San Diego. James helped lead the Tritons to the Division II College World Series both years, including reaching the championship game in 2017. James replaced Joe Schaefer, who had been here as the head coach since 2008.
 
The first-year head coach jumped at the opportunity to lead a program, which he helped build for over 10 years as a student-athlete and a coach. He came in and quickly instituted new ideas and styles he learned in his many years patrolling the dugouts and bullpen mounds. At least early on the Sea Lions seem to really be responding to the changes implemented by coach James and his new staff.
 
The following is a season preview and a conversation with coach Justin James on the upcoming 2019 baseball season:
 
Practice and training
The Sea Lions have been working hard in the weight room, in the cages, and on the field since classes began in September. Following the holiday break, the team returned to the field in preparation for its season opener on Feb. 1, against Montevallo. Coach James has been very happy with the dedication his team showed in preparation for the season.
 
Danny Barnts (Assistant Athletic Director for Communications): "How have practices been going for you guys? How is the team responding to your coaching staff this year?"
 
Coach Justin James: "It's been awesome! There has been a lot of change, but a lot of good change. I think we've done a really good job in the classroom, in the weight room and overall. There has also been more accountability and intensity at practice. We've also shown a lot of energy. I'm very pleased with how we've prepared."
 
Schedule
The Sea Lions will once host a majority of its non-conference series at Carroll B. Land Stadium, America's Most Scenic Ballpark. Their one non-conference road series will be a very tough one. PLNU will travel up the coast to face last year's No. 1 regionally ranked team, Cal State Monterey Bay, on Feb. 7-9. The Sea Lions will jump into conference play on Mar. 1 at Academy of Art.
 
DB: "How is the scheduling lining up for your team?"
 
Coach James: "With Cal Baptist leaving and Dixie State, not in the mix, we play APU and Concordia eight times each, so those are going to be pretty important games for us. We have a tough road series to start the year off at Monterey, which is never an easy place to play. That'll be good competition early in the season, so we know where we are. That could help us, possibly, for postseason play down the road. Other than that, we just have to take care of business within the conference as always. We need to beat the people we're supposed to beat, and just compete against the top-level teams in the conference. Hopefully, we are there at the end." 
 
Newcomers
There are a lot of new faces in the dugout this season for PLNU. Coach James brought in a slew of transfers, along with a strong freshman class. The Sea Lions' starting rotation and a large part of its lineup is expected to be made up of newcomers.
 
DB: "How do you feel the newcomers have responded to you and your staff?"
 
Coach James: "The newcomers are probably the ones who have benefitted the most from (the coaching change). They came into a program firstly to get better, and we've given them those
opportunities. When fall first started, it was ok because we're learning new systems. As the fall went, along, they started to get used to it, and then also their play started to become a whole lot cleaner."
 
Returners
In the lineup, the Sea Lions return a pair of all-region selections in Micah Pries (OF) and John Balliet (UT/P), along with All-PacWest selections Travis Takata and Colby Kaneshiro. In addition, PLNU will return seven other hitters, who earned letters last year.
 
DB: "How have the returners been? Their situation is very unique. You started with them, and now you're back as their coach."
 
Coach James: "So those guys we had a good relationship before I left and we've had a good relationship coming back. Coach Schaefer ran a really good program that I was also a part of for many years. There's always a couple of things that are going to be a little bit different, so it just takes a little bit of transition time to get used to that. However, they've been great, they've gotten a lot better too, and I'm excited for most of those guys."
 
Lineup
Balliet should be back at the top with Pries, Travis Takata, Justin Ledgerwood and Colby Kaneshiro back in the middle. The Sea Lions are expected to fill in around them with Otto Kemp (3B), Miguel Cazares (SS), Brett O'Toole (OF) and Michael Palos (C). Darian Sylvester (INF), Kyle Gracey (OF), Nico Anderson (OF), Casey Dunlap (INF), Ryan Casper (UT), Ryan Park (C), Jarrett Lindsay (C) and Alekzander de la Cruz (1B) are all expected to provide options and depth for coach James.
 
DB: "How does the lineup look this year?"
 
Coach James: "We're pretty happy with our lineup. We got a bunch of guys who won a lot of big games last year that are coming back. Balliet, Micah, Colby, Takata, and Ledgerwood have all made some huge strides this fall. We are really excited about them. Some of them had exceptional years, so we're pretty happy where the offense is. We plugged in a few pieces with Michael Palos coming over as a grad senior and Miguel Cazares at shortstop."
 
Pitching
Coach James has always prided himself on his ability to work with pitchers. He was the pitching coach his last two seasons with the Sea Lions and helped the PLNU pitching staff become one of the best in the country. Point Loma ranked in the top 10 in NCAA Division II in four categories, including ERA and WHIP. He continued that success at UCSD and established the Tritons as one of the most formidable staffs in the West Region. He is now back to work with the Sea Lion staff. The starting rotation will be completely new, with just Connor Barrett, Nicholas Cornelius, Robert Ortiz III, Tommy Paul and John Balliet returning to the bullpen.
 
DB: "How's your pitching staff lining up? Both starters and the bullpen?"
 
Coach James: "We like who our starters are, at the moment. It is looking like it is going to be Zack Noll, Jerry Quemada, and Stirling Strong early in the season, since we're playing three-game series. There is a mix of about three other guys for that fourth starter role. In the bullpen, we bring back Balliet, who had an exceptional year closing games out for us last year. Then we have a bunch of transfers that are either going to be our seventh or eighth inning guys. They're still figuring out who that is going to be, but there's some talent in the bullpen."
 
Defense
The Sea Lions lost the 2018 PacWest Defender of the Year in shortstop Adam Rios, but might be even better with their infield defense. Takata is expected back at second base with Cazares taking over shortstop and Otto Kemp manning the hot-corner. Ledgerwood will shift to first base, and Kaneshiro will move to DH. In the outfield, Pries will be back in center and Balliet in right. O'Toole is expected to take over in left.
 
DB: "How are the Sea Lions looking defensively?"
 
Coach James: "Defensive might our most consistent part of our game. I think Matt Jervis has done a great job with our infielders. Coach Calhoon has done a really good job with the catchers and with the overall defensive look. Our guys have really improved defensively. We play pretty good defense, which obviously we know is huge to winning baseball games. It doesn't matter how well you pitch if you can't play defense."
 
Goals
One big part of coach James' philosophy is accountability. He holds his team to high standards and expects the same in return. That trust in each out, coupled with the talented roster, has allowed coach James and the Sea Lions to approach the season with lofty goals. PLNU was picked second in the PacWest preseason coaches poll, but they are looking beyond just goals in conference play.
 
DB: "What are the goals for your team this season? Whether they're actually in the win column or just for improvement."
 
Coach James: "What are our goals? Win the conference, win a regional and the national championship. All of those are definitely our goals but the approach we took as a coaching staff was to work hard every day. Work hard every day, think small and do the small things really well. The other things will take care of themselves. If we don't do that, those dreams we have aren't attainable. Do your goals match up with your work ethic? If they don't, you have to switch one of those few things. That's was our approach all fall."
 
Conclusion
The book is fresh and the page is blank. The Sea Lions have the talent to improve upon their win in the NCAA Regional last season and continue to take this program to new heights. It is now time for coach James and the 2019 team to start writing the new story of PLNU baseball.