Jackson, MS - The Millsaps Baseball Team began practice earlier this month, as the regular season is set to begin this weekend in Alabama.

The sights and sounds of practice signal an early start to the spring season where the Majors will improve upon a year that saw many milestones. An appearance to the NCAA Regionals, All-American Selection and three All-Region selections give Millsaps Baseball plenty to be excited about - not to mention Coach Page earning his 700th win last May. The excitement is certainly felt, especially for Coach Page who enters his 28th season with the Majors this year.

"Every year when this time rolls around you're excited," Head Baseball Coach Jim Page said. "I'm no less excited in my 28th year as before so there's always excitement from the players and coaching staff this time of year."

This year's team will have to replace a few key losses, including an All-American selection. However, given the myriad of injuries coupled with maturity shown in last year's run, Coach Page is confident in the growth of the team moving forward into this season.

"You look at what we lost from last year, that played heavily into our recent success," Coach Page said. "Dealing with the injuries last year, the adversity was there. Experience combined with mental toughness and leadership - that held it together for us to make the run that we made.

"Anytime you lose all of that as a coach you may wonder how you replace all those numbers. With this group I've been really impressed with their work ethic, camaraderie and how they've gone about it day-by-day. They've done a really good job on focusing on what we're doing."

With the proper foundation provided from excellent leadership last year, hard work ethic and great focus, the 2016 Baseball Majors are prepared to face the challenges of the new season. With the successful practices and focus, Coach Page and his staff are confident in the resiliency of his players too.

"Their focus has given me confidence as we begin," Coach Page said. "When we begin, whether we come out of the gates fast or stumble a bit, I have confidence that this team can handle both possibilities.

"I've just seen something about them that tells me they'll continue to grind it out one way or another. It's one of those deals where they've exceeded where I thought we would be at this time and that's a tribute to the kinds of young men that they are."

In a season where the Majors continue competing in a conference that saw three teams make an NCAA Regional coupled with over 30 tough regular season games, the challenges of the new year are well known.

"There's good, bad and ugly to every season," Coach Page said. "But this is a group where I'm going to relish the good, bad and ugly times because I think they'll respond to it the proper way."

The Majors begin the season next weekend with a tournament in Montgomery, Alabama. Given the increasing importance of pitching across the board currently in baseball, the Majors are excited to finally throw some different arms in the rotation during a live game.

"With our pitching depth, we've got some 'quote' guys and then we've got some guys where it could be tough to figure out who goes in," Coach Page said. "We've got these five, six or seven guys where any one of them can come in and perform very well on any given day and as a coach that's what you want from the pitching staff."

The starters and bullpen also have the added benefit of a solid defensive unit behind them. Coupled with some big hitters on the roster, the Majors have a great deal to look forward to this season.

"Defensively I've been really impressed with how we've played," Coach Page said. "Offensively we've got the type of team that I like. We've got a couple of power guys and several guys that can run pretty well - they're not afraid on the base paths.

"We'll have some guys that can hit for average in there too. There can be times where we'll have five or six guys in the lineup that can throw a drag down at any time. It doesn't even have to be perfect and they have a chance to beat it out so there are some things that can pressure a defense and can get things going for us when we're struggling."

Needless to say, the Majors contain a number of intangibles that can give an advantage in any situation, which will be a positive considering the tough schedule Millsaps Baseball faces this year. The Majors face two teams in conference that made NCAA Regional appearances last season along with several other opponents that are familiar with late season tournament baseball.

"Couple of teams making regionals and a few more on the bubble last year in conference," Coach Page said. "We have a conference with a lot of postseason experience, every weekend is highlighted."

Preceding conference play is arguably an equally difficult slate of non-conference games, which begin Friday.

"Non-conference we're playing Illinois Wesleyan who has won a national championship and Adrian who has been to regionals," Coach Page said. "Piedmont has been, Randolph has been, York has been, Southwestern has been and these are just non-conference games. Then you have Belhaven and MC, we don't have a weak team on the schedule."

Facing a number of tough opponents with NCAA Tournament experience can be a daunting task, but it is something that the Majors are familiar with. With being one of the three SAA teams making the NCAA Regional Tournament last season, the Majors certainly have the experience to compete well into May.

"I know we have to come out there fired up ready to go every time," Coach Page said. "If we do that, we'll have a chance in every ball game."

Regardless of the challenges, opponent or difficulties of the upcoming season, all 44 members of this year's team can agree on the excitement of having another season to play the game they love.

"You work hard for this all year," Coach Page said. "Now its time to go out there and have some fun and play the game that we've loved to play since we were 5 years old."

Opening Day for the Majors is this Friday, Feb. 5th on the road against Randolph-Macon. Following the three-day tournament, the Majors return to Twenty Field to host the Millsaps Invitational.

First pitch for Opening Day in Montgomery, Alabama is set for 1:00 pm.