For 19 seniors on the 2008 edition of the Cal State San Bernardino baseball team, this will be their final shot at a conference title and a berth in the NCAA tournament.
    The campaign starts Friday at Arrowhead Credit Union Park in downtown San Bernardino at 2 p.m. against fellow California Collegiate Athletic Association member Cal State Dominguez Hills. However, the game against the Toros is a non-conference game.
    The same two teams hook up for a doubleheader Saturday at 11 a.m. at the Toros ballpark in Carson.
    Friday's game is the first of 10 non-conference games leading up to the conference opener oon Feb. 21 at UC San Diego.
    The Coyotes return a corps of veteran position players and pitchers from the 2007 team that produced a 29-22 record, 20-16 in the CCAA. The team was in contention for a berth in the four-team CCAA championship tournament until the final weekend but finished fifth in the standings.
    Chief among the returners is senior third baseman Drew Valenzuela who it .318 last season with two home runs and 34 runs batted in. Also back is senior designated hitter Kyle Walton, who batted .307 with three homers and 19 RBI and Bryan W. Hart, who batted .337 with 11 RBI. Justin Watson is another returning starter who played right field in 2007.
    The returning pitchers are led by senior right-hander Matt Long who had a 5-4 record with a 3.09 earned run average and 89 strikeouts last season, and Kevin Wilson, another senior right-hander with a 3-2 record and a 3.96 ERA with three complete games. A third starter, senior Cheyne Hann, is also back.
    Several newcomers figure in Coach Don Parnell's plans for success in 2008, primarily senior  first baseman Jason Klug, a transfer from Cal State Dominguez Hills where he was a second-team all-American in 2006 as well as the NCAA West Region and CCAA most valuable player. He batted .405 for the Toros with 11 home runs, 56 RBI and a .659 slugging percentage. He is also solid defensively with a .991 fielding percentage in 2006. Klug sat out the 2007 season.
    "Our season should go according to how we pitch," said Parnell, entering his 17th season as the head coach.  "If the pitching is solid, we will be solid. We return seven pitchers who all played a pivotal role last year. If those same guys can take it up a notch, we should be very competitive in the conference."
    One of the newcomers expected to start in the outfield is Johnnie Haas, a junior, who left college to serve on a mission for the Mormon church and has not played competitive baseball for three years. "He's a good player," Parnell said.
    Two other newcomers considered key to the team's lineup are Brent Planck, a transfer infielder from University of San Diego, and Andrew Tapia, a transfer from Pierce College.