When Bismarck State College coachLen Stanley says a lot hinges on playing clean baseball this spring he isn't focusing on sportsmanship.

The emphasis is on tight defense that rewards pitchers for good mound work.

BSCscored just 92 runs while going 12-19 last spring, and there are no indications the Mystics are suddenly going to turn into fence busters.

What Stanley hopes to be able to do is trot out to the mound several decent-to-good pitchers who can keep it close. The rest is up to the defense and hitting.

"The pressure is on the pitchers to throw strikes and keep the ball down and there's pressure on the infield," Stanley said. "Routine plays have to be made. Outs have to be outs."

There will be many freshmen in evidence. BSCwill suit up just five sophomores and two of them are transfers from elsewhere.

Pitcher-third baseman JoshStanding Elk, catcher Orry Lesh and outfielder Travis Voegele return from last year's BSCteam. Pitcher-shortstop Nate Watson transferred to BSCfrom Mount Marty of Yankton, S.D., and See Mystics, Page 3D

pitcher Brett Magelssen moved over from the University of Mary.

That leaves the Mystics with 10 freshmen.

Stanley said he's hoping Watson,Standing Elk and incoming freshmen Shane Schoenberg, Tyler Schrenk and Matt Hagen can eat up the innings. Schoenberg and Schrenk are from Jamestown and Hagen is from Oakes.

"Those five should be pretty solid. They all had pretty good falls for us. We'll see what happens this spring," the coach noted. "They'll be the starters and we'll kind of piecemeal the others."

Right-handers Scott Cooley of Sturgis, S.D., Greg Brown of Jamestown and Casey Frantz of Harvey will also get a look. They'll be chucking to a catching corps that makes Stanley smile. Gone are the days of the iron man catcher.

"Justin Connell is as good a catcher as you're going to find. Schrenk was probably ourNo. 1 catcher coming out of fall ball. Lesh is coming back, and he caught quite a bit last year,"Stanley noted. "(Jared) Sundby has the tools, he just needs the innings … and Voegele is another one who can catch."

Some of the catcher overflow could end up in the infield or outfield.

Pedro Armendaris, a speedster who is coming off a redshirt season at Dickinson State, gives BSCa defensive whiz in center field. Freshmen TimVesel and Greg Brown of Jamestown and Voegele are among those in a battle for the corner outfield spots.

Standing Elk, a returnee at third, is the only veteran infielder. Middle infield possibilities are Watson, Hagen, Scott Cooley and Connell. Watson, from Sturgis,S.D., is the younger brother of former BSCstandout Matt Watson. Cooley is a freshman from Sturgis.

Schoenberg and Schrenk are the first basemen.

"We should be solid defensively, especially in the infield Ilike what Isee,"Stanley said. "And Armendaris is solid in center field so up the middle we should be OK."

Offense is the million dollar question. No long boppers have asserted themselves, so the Mystics will have to depend on long sequence rallies.

"Last year we barely hit .200 as a team. With all these freshmen, that's going to be the key - can we swing the bat?" Stanley said. "Watson, Standing Elk and Connell are going to be the heart of our batting order and they should hold their own. The question is, can we get some of the other kids up to speed and swinging with wood that remains to be seen."

The Mystics swing primarily from the right side. Schoenberg and Brown are the only left-handed hitters.

With a 34-game regular season schedule packed into 34 days, the Mystics will burn up a lot of pitching. Stanley doesn't flinch.

"The (Mon-Dak)Conference games are weekend series, so we should be covered … barring injuries," the coach said.

The Mystics were 5-11 in conference play last spring, and Stanley said the Mon-Dak may be an even more unfriendly place this year.

He said the two Montana schools, Miles Community College and Dawson College, are never down.

"Williston State has a lot of kids back, and (James) Hennessy will be throwing,"Stanley said. "Bottineau finished well last year, and they've recruited some of those hockey-baseball kids."

BSCis scheduled to play junior varsity teams from Jamestown and the University of Mary today and Wednesday. The Mystics take on Trinity Bible College of Ellendale on Thursday. Their first conference game is April 6 at Miles City.