Never mind all the success the Eastern baseball team had last season.

Never mind the regular season Ohio Valley Conference Championship.

Never mind the first national rankings in program history.

Never mind the stellar seasons of Brett Nommensen, Jordan Kreke and Tyler Kehrer, now living their dreams as Major League Baseball players.

And lastly, never mind the heartbreak of being upset in the OVC Tournament, missing out on their ultimate goal of an NCAA Tournament bid

It’s a new season for the Panthers, and with it comes new expectations – expectations that are as high as ever.

Coming off a dominant regular season in 2009, the Eastern baseball team is favored to take home the regular season title yet again.

The team won the conference tournament title in 2008 and the regular season title last season.

All this pressure despite losing arguably the team’s three best hitters – Nommensen, Kreke and Jordan Tokarz – and a top-three pitcher in Kehrer.

Eastern head coach Jim Schmitz – in his 16th season at the helm of the program – has proven time and time again that he is capable of putting competitive teams on the field.

So despite all the losses, we should expect just as much out of the team as previous years.

Led by juniors Mike Recchia and Josh Mueller at the front end of the rotation, the pitching staff should be solid yet again. And sophomore third baseman Zach Borenstein, who broke through as a freshman a year ago, appears to have all the tools to take over in the middle of the order.

One of the biggest question marks on the team will be at the top of the order, once manned by Nommensen and Tokarz.

The Panthers will be relying on freshman newcomers Daniel Rowe, a freshman second baseman and Shawn Ferguson, a junior right fielder who transferred from a junior college.

The pressure will be on those two to get the team started at the top of the lineup.

But given the team’s history of bringing in top-notch talent, there’s a good chance Rowe and Ferguson will live up to expectations. And aside from those two, spots three through nine in the batting order are all returning players who saw significant playing time a year ago. So even with the loss of so many key veterans, the Panthers are still an experienced bunch.

Sure, there are question marks. There are questions at the beginning of every season.

But given the propensity of Schmitz and his staff to get the job done year after year, there’s a good chance those expectations are met.

Collin Whitchurch can be reached at 581-7944 or cfwhitchurch@eiu.edu.