Summary: It’s time to pay attention to the Kent State baseball team after the Flashes pulled off a season for the ages in 2012.

Believe it or not, Monday marked eight months since the Kent State baseball program pulled off a walk-off victory over Oregon to earn the school’s first ever berth in the College World Series. Clearly, time flies when the football team matches that with its own best season ever.

But if you weren’t sure whether coach Scott Stricklin had assembled a great group of student-athletes who were worth watching, 2012 removed all doubt. Our baseball team deserves unprecedented support in its quest to surpass the new heights it reached last June.

Having been one of the final five teams alive in the NCAA tournament might seem like an improbable, once-in-a-lifetime achievement, but we can give you seven reasons to believe it could happen again: George Roberts, Evan Campbell, T.J. Sutton, Sawyer Polen, Alex Miklos, Derek Toadvine and Tyler Skulina. The Flashes return these seven starters from last year’s team, and having so many experienced players with a 47-win season under their belts can’t hurt.

We realize that the team won’t be particularly easy to follow at first, as the Flashes travel out of town every weekend to play in warmer climates until the warmness of spring arrives in Kent. But you can go ahead and mark your calendar for Wednesday, March 20, which is the home opener against Pittsburgh at 4 p.m., and watch this space for another reminder as that date approaches.

In the meantime, count on the Daily Kent Stater and KentWired.com for coverage of the team’s road trips during these first five weeks. You can also listen to most games on the Golden Flashes station on iHeartRadio. Pay particular attention to a four-game series Feb. 22-24 against the San Diego Toreros, who are ranked 18th in the preseason coaches’ poll.

With any luck, we’ll be spending another summer scrambling to send reporters to Omaha, Neb., for a second consecutive College World Series. Go Flashes!

The above editorial is the consensus opinion of the Daily Kent Stater editorial board.