The NOC Tonkawa Mavericks open the 2020 season Monday afternoon traveling to Midwest City for a date with Rose State.

The Mavs are ranked #20 in the pre-season NJCAA poll.

NOC led by coach Ryan Bay, now in his 6th season at NOC.

"We're excited to get going," Bay said.  "Our guys have put in the work in the fall and now we're ready to have a good spring.

The Mavs return just one starter in outfielder Ben MacNaughton and also infielder Bryan Burgos who saw time before suffering a knee injury in mid-season.   Jaken Snider also saw time on the infield for the Mavs.

"We'll be different offensively ths year," Bay said.  "Last year, we had Joey (Pena) and Casey (Harper) in the middle of the order that were big power hitters. This year, we'll be more of a small ball team.  We'll use the stolen base, hit-and-run, and bunt more often.  I believe we will have a good offense, it'll just be different than last year.

Other mavs penciled in to the lineup include outfielders Bryant Bailey and Patrick Murphy and infielders Sam Shank and Jackie Robinson.  Geovanni Blackshaw and Hayden Priest will do the catching.

Bay is especially excited about his pitching staff.

"I like our staff a lot," Bay said.  "We have some experience and some depth.  You never have enough pitching but I think the depth of quality of arms is as good we as we've had.  I think we have a lot of options."

Freshman Jacob Ellis and Blake Hubbard are at the top of the rotation with returnees AJ Moore, Chase DeFillippo, Jack Edmunson, and Zach Stephenson looking for a spot in the rotation.  Kirby Lohrengel and Jaken Snider can both close with Bryson Armstrong a potential starter or reliever.

The Mavs were 41-16 in 2019.