One of the most important things to have in baseball is a short memory.
Whether something good or bad happened the last pitch, you move on - knowing there's another coming right after it. And that's the mentality that West Virginia State baseball coach Sean Loyd has been preaching to his team since he took over the reins of the program.
It's advice that could be helpful this season as the Yellow Jackets enter the 2017 campaign with high expectations set for themselves after winning the Southern Division of the Mountain East Conference, before falling in a tough loss to Shepherd in the MEC title championship game a year ago.
"We spend a lot of time every year saying that what happened last year is last year," Loyd said. "We don't spend a lot of time thinking about things like that. We talked a little bit about it, but once we got finished with it we moved on to our new vision for this year.
"This is a different team and we're really excited with what this group has a chance to do. This year we're hopping right back on the saddle again hoping to give it our best shot."
It was the first time since the MEC formed that West Virginia State didn't win the conference title, but the league's coaches believe that WVSU has what it takes to make another potential run this season - picking them to win the South once again in the 2017 preseason poll.
The Yellow Jackets opened the season last week against No. 12 Mercyhurst, dropping those two games by scores of 13-7 and 2-0. But as they prepare for this weekend's home opener against Clarion, Loyd believes this team has what it takes to be a solid and talented squad.
"It makes you feel good to see that the other teams in the league have that kind of respect for you, but we're just trying to focus on getting better every day in hopes that at the end of the year we can be No. 1," Loyd said. "That's when that stuff really counts. We had nine seniors last year, so we've had some guys cycle out of the program and we have a lot of new guys, which is really exciting.
"After being out there and practicing leading up to the season, us coaches and players are just excited to get out there and see what we can do."
Despite losing a number of players who led the way for them last year, there still is plenty of talent back for the Yellow Jackets. Among those is infielder Brandon Wright. The Winfield native was third on the team as a sophomore, hitting .327, and was one of just two players to start all 47 games for WVSU. He'll be joined in the lineup by the likes of Trayvis Patterson and Phil Mandt, who hit .288 and .271, respectively, in 2016. Patterson and Mandt each hit four home runs apiece a year ago.
On the mound, Tyler Hall leads the way for a young West Virginia State pitching staff. He started 11 games in 2016, compiling a 7-2 record with one complete game. Colby Gainer will move from the bullpen into the rotation after going 4-1 with a 1.49 earned-run average in 36 1/3 innings.
For Loyd, it's going to be important to see how these veteran leaders are able to mix in with the number of new players looking to get into the fold. He says that could be the key to how good the Yellow Jackets are in 2017.
"The big thing is about trying to find the right mix of guys who are going to play well together. In order for them to play well together, they have to get familiar with one another," Loyd said. "It's not just something for us when we talk about wanting to see them out there and evaluate them in an actual game, it's big for them because they're trying to get used to each other, getting that timing down. We're all anxious to really get into it."
Contact Michael Carvelli at 304-348-4810 or michael.carvelli@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @carvelli3.