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from a leadership standpoint is huge," he said. "Play- ers can look to us and see how you go about your daily business and prepare week to week throughout the season. "Having guys that have gone through that and learned from their mistakes kind of shortens that learning curve for the younger guys." Kuhn is quick to point out that there is still serious competition going on for roles. "We've got a great idea of what we have coming back from last year, and there are some great pos- sibilities for some new guys to step in some roles for those guys that were drafted or graduated," Kuhn affirmed. One potential weekend change could be the inclu- sion of second-year Connor Jones if Sborz moves to the back end. "Connor had a great freshman season and we're looking for great things from him," Kuhn said. "He's a very talented young man and he's very selfless." Alec Bettinger had a strong rookie campaign last year, going 6-0 in his six mid-week starts while al- lowing only three earned runs. In the postseason, he worked out of the bullpen, and Kuhn indicated the sophomore righty may be called upon to serve in a long-relief role this spring. "Alec would be a fantastic candidate to start as he did last year," Kuhn said. "He had a great freshman campaign and probably developed more than any other freshman on the staff last season. "But as these freshmen develop into sophomores, the roles are going to increase and the weight is go- ing to increase. Guys like Alec Bettinger and David Rosenberger are going to be asked to do more in tougher situations." Kuhn expects several first-years will get a chance to show what they can do on the mound, including Haseley, Tommy Doyle and Derek Casey. "Doyle and Casey are very highly talented and both are going to be fantastic pitchers in this pro- gram. Doyle is very adaptable and great at handling difficult concepts and taking instruction and putting it into practice. Casey's days of being a really good pitcher are going to be vast and in front of him, and both of those guys are going to have to get the ball a lot." ◆