SENATOBIA - By now, it's no secret that the NJCAA's toughest and most stacked region lies in Division II, Region 23.

Aside from staunch national powerhouse LSU-Eunice, the rest of Region 23 encompasses the Mississippi Association of Community Colleges Conference. Together, the overall region usually sports five to seven teams in the national rankings at once and for the couple teams that make it into the Division II World Series, most of the time their postseason stay ends with a championship banner or at least a deep run against other teams from across the nation.

Historically, Northwest is no stranger to that type of success, but the Rangers have also fallen victim to some of those teams. Last season, head coach Mark Carson's club kept the streak alive of 14 straight winning seasons, only to be eliminated in the first round by a red-hot East Central squad that ended up two outs away from punching its ticket to the World Series.

It's that level of toughness that makes the MACCC and Region 23 so grueling year in and year out. While that might be intimidating to some, Northwest has come to expect the obstacles that are attached with competing in this conference, and this year's club is up to the challenge.

"We caught the wrong team at the wrong time," Carson said, reflecting on last season's elimination. "They were hot as firecracker and I give credit to them and what they accomplished. For us, we lost so much of last year's team because we had a lot of guys with extra eligibility after COVID. Because we lost so many of those guys, this team really is a whole new look. We have had to come in and put the puzzle pieces together and start from the ground up."

Although Northwest loses a lot of punch from last season's batting order, the Rangers do return several key pieces to their sophomore class. One of those is sophomore outfielder and UT Martin signee Caleb Hobson, who finished as the team's leading hitter with a .344 batting average.

"Caleb is a tremendous athlete and one of the best outfielders that I have ever coached," Carson said. "He's a fast player who plays the game the right way and he had a great freshman year. We're expecting him to pick up right where he left off and hold down center field for us. We have worked him out at shortstop too, so we might utilize him a little in the infield, but he's going to primarily be in the outfield, hitting in the top of the order and hopefully stealing a lot of bases for us."

On the mound, the Rangers return another strong arm with recent UAB signee John Luke Marlin. The Tupelo native made five starts and 12 appearances as a freshman and finished with 39 strikeouts, good for second behind only current Delta State pitcher Hammer Franks.

"He's going to be one of our best arms," Carson said. "We used him last year as a starter, but he might play a different role this season. We're looking to have him primarily come out of the bullpen and I think that lines up with what he might do down the road at UAB. He throws that under-slot that can go all over the place, so he's effective at everything he does."

Hobson and Marlin are far from the only sophomores expected to make an impact, however. Northwest returns a stable of pitchers that include Colton Presley, Jake Savage, Judah Buckner and Zach Willingham, while also welcoming back redshirt sophomore outfielder Landon Rogers, power hitter Wesley Lester, catcher Brady Logan and infielder Alan Kivett.

"We're excited to have Landon back for a third season," Carson said. "He might be the best athlete on the team and he's an extremely hard worker. Wesley is another third-year guy that will play first and serve in a designated hitter role, as a strong, physical guy that can really contribute and help us."

Also joining the fold are a slew of transfers, led by former LSU pitcher Brooks Rice, catcher Ryan Lee (Union University), infielder Hunter Cramer (Wichita State) and recent newcomer Brayden Sanders, who spent the fall at Ole Miss.

On his transfers, Carson expects Lee and Logan to share catching duties, while also anticipating a fully-healthy Rice to make his debut in early March.

For his sophomore class as a whole, Carson is hoping to have his team carry on the hard-working tradition, while also aiming for his newcomers to adjust to in-game experience.

"The culture we have always had here is working hard and doing things the right way," Carson said. "We do have some really good leaders back on this team, so you hope that this culture continues to spread to our transfers and our freshmen for everyone to carry on. We have guys who bring a lot to the table and have a skill-set that is really good. Most of the things they lack are game experience, so that's going to be something that we watch to see how they handle it."

Navigating through this season's schedule is going to be the biggest key to measuring the Rangers' success, and the non-conference portion is no exception. Northwest opens out of the gate against Southwest Tennessee on Friday, February 11, before turning around to Millington, Tenn. the very next day for a pair of contests with Lake Land College and Glen Oaks Community College. From there, doubleheaders with Jackson State (Tenn.), Wallace State-Hanceville, Rend Lake and Freed-Hardeman pepper the remaining non-conference slate.

All of that, Carson says, is to prepare for the onslaught of challenges that will come from the regular season MACCC slate.

"I'm not someone that is going to search around to see how many [non-conference] games we can win," Carson said. "Some people do that and that's their prerogative, but I feel that we need to schedule games that are going to help us prepare for a really stout conference schedule. We have loaded it down with some teams that we think are great clubs and we have to go on the road a few times, so the non-conference schedule is important in helping us solidify a lineup for conference play."

One of the biggest challenges heading into this season has been improving from the fall. And while Carson admits the fall schedule didn't turn out as he had hoped, he also says that there were signs of improvement late in the semester that he hopes to carry over into the spring.

"We didn't have a good fall and we left some questions unanswered heading into this semester," Carson said. "We worked hard, but our numbers didn't show that and I think that might have been some of our inexperience showing up. I told our team that toward the end of the fall, I thought I saw us turning the corner and some guys making some strides, but then the fall had to come to an end. So I have been real anxious for us to get back out there and I think we picked up where we left off."

While there are no easy games on the schedule, Carson remains positive that his team will rise to the occasion, as so many of his clubs have done in the past.

"The biggest hurdle we have to get over is establishing our identity quickly," Carson added. "I want our identity to be one that when other teams see us coming up on the schedule that they know they're in for a dogfight, they know that they are in for a battle against a team that's going to play hard. As a head coach, that is what I want our identity to be. I think that's contagious and it comes with leadership, starting with myself and the coaching staff. I believe that aspect will show up on the field."

First pitch for Friday's doubleheader against Southwest Tennessee is set for 1/4 P.M. at Jim Miles Field on the Senatobia campus. All home games this season will be carried on Ranger TV (nwccrangers.com/watch) and Facebook Live, by searching "Northwest Rangers Athletics".