The first words out of Benedict College baseball coach Selwyn Young's mouth when talking about the 2013 season is “fun.”

“It's going to be a fun year,” Young said.

Considering the Tigers have 15 new players, most of them freshman, joining nine returning veterans, many coaches would not consider that fun. But Young thinks this year's group has blended well during their fall workouts and then in their preseason practices.

“The chemistry is the best I've been around in 24 years of coaching,” Young said. “They're good kids, they work together and they're coachable.”

Benedict opens the 2013 season on Thursday, weather permitting, with a doubleheader against Virginia-Lynchburg at noon at Benedict's Tiger Field, where the team will play all of its home games this season after playing the last few years at Capital City Park.

Benedict returns nine veterans from last year's team that went 20-17 overall. Leading the way is senior first baseman David Weber, an honorable mention All-American last year after hitting .446, sixth-best in NCAA Division II, and leading Division II with 1.49 RBIs per game. Weber will also be counted on as a pitcher this season. A lefthander, he was 2-2 with a 4.56 ERA in nine pitching appearances last season.

“He's stepped up a leadership role, taking the young hitters and spending time with them,” Young said. “What David has done this year is not just worked on his hitting, but his pitching. He's completely turned around. He's going to be our No. 1 starter. So he told me that he'd like to have a week where he is named the conference pitcher of the week and hitter of the week, and I can see that happen.”

Senior catcher Lydell Moseby, the son of former major leaguer Lloyd Moseby, hit .349 with 29 RBIs last season, and is poised for a big year.

Other key returnees include outfielders Elisha McDaniel, Andre Collum and Dondrell Folk, infielder Kevin Davis, and Lashante Grimes, who can play multiple positions, as well as pitchers Justin Smalls and Christopher Lail.

The Tigers have led the NCAA in stolen bases for four straight years under Young's attack-the-bases system. Despite losing last season's NCAA stolen base leader Michael Jordan to graduation, the coach expects the Tigers to continue to be “The fastest show on dirt.”

McDaniel is the top returning base stealer with 27, while Weber had 23 and Collum had 20. But Young said he recruited speed and expects the Tigers to challenge the record of 316 the team set in 2010.

“This is the fastest team I've ever had,” Young said. “Hands down the fastest team. It's going to be probably worse.”

Young expects to see a big jump in stolen bases from Davis, who had 17 successful swipes last year. Newcomer Jocquese Brunson is a speedster on the basepaths, while freshman Kurtis Burnett is the fastest player on the team, according to Young. Both will see time in the outfield.

“I'm not going to say we're going to have a guy with 70 again, but we're probably going to have a bunch of kids around the 40 to 50 mark,” Young said. “I'm pretty confident somebody's either going to lead the country or be right at it.”

Another new wrinkle for the Tigers this season should be an increase in power. Last year, the Tigers hit just 10 home runs all season. During their fall practice, Young said the team hit 32 out of the park, which is a good sign for things to come this season.

“Lydell Moseby, David Weber, Andre Collum, Jocquese Brunson, my nephew Daniel Young, Mitchell Dixon and freshman Doren Blake, all of them can end the game with one swing of the bat,” Young said. “It's a really big difference from last year. We're still the speed team, but occasionally some guys are going to pop it out. One through six can hit it out anywhere, they have Major League power.”

Young will man third base, while Blake will see time as a backup catcher and designated hitter. Dixon will play multiple positions in the infield.

Expect to see a better, more fundamentally-sound defensive team as well, Young said. Freshmen Willie Colon and Yan Oyola from Puerto Rico are a very good double play combination, according to Young. Marcelino Irizarry is also a good freshman catcher.

Pitching was a big issue in the team's late-season collapse a year ago. So Young also loaded up on pitchers in this year's recruiting class.

Leading the way of the new staff is Yaniel Delgado, one of five freshman Young brought in from Puerto Rico.

“He's a freshman, but really not a freshman. He has a veteran presence on the mound. He has the class of a pro guy right now,” Young said.

Lail has made “big improvements” since last year, Young said, and Justin Smalls is back healthy after not being 100 percent last year. The newcomers will also be counted on heavily, with McCartha Thompson, from Columbia High School, freshman Angel Perez, Omar Compton and Devon Lemon. Justin Shelton, a transfer from North Carolina A&T, is described by Young as being in the same mold as major-leaguers Mark Buehrle and Tom Glavine. Young said 18 of the 24 players on the roster can pitch effectively.

“We have a lot of options, where last year I really didn't have very many,” Young said. “So that's what I did this year is make sure the pitching staff is much stronger.”

After starting off strong last year and then tailing off the second half of the season, Young said the team learned a valuable lesson about maintaining strength and conditioning all season, and working to peak at the end of the season and tournament time.

"I don't see us faltering like we did last year,” Young said.

With key personnel losses at Paine, Claflin and Stillman, Young said the conference title race is up for grabs this year.

“I believe this year we're going to be able to sneak up on some people because they expect us to be down,” Young said. “We're just going to play the humble role. We're going to be the turtle in the race and not the rabbit.

“It's going to be real fun.”