By Andrew Miller of The Post and Courier

Most coaches would be a little intimidated to take over a baseball program like the College of Charleston, where Southern Conference championships and NCAA Regional bids have been the norm rather than the exception the last few seasons.

But Monte Lee isn't most coaches.

By any definition, Lee, 31, has been nothing but a winner during his brief coaching career.

As an assistant coach at Spartanburg Methodist, the Pioneers went to the Junior College World Series and set a single-season school record with 51 wins. During his six years as an assistant coach under Ray Tanner at South Carolina, the Gamecocks went to six straight NCAA Regionals and two College World Series.

Now, Lee returns to his alma mater, where the Cougars, under John Pawlowski, had arguably the best program in the SoCon over the last decade. They won four conference tournament or regular season titles and went to three straight NCAA Regionals.

And that's exactly the kind of program Lee wants to be a part of.

"Most of the time when you take over a program it's because the previous coach didn't do a good job," Lee said. "They've been very successful around here. Expectations are high. The players expect to win, the fans expect to win. I expect to win. I've been used to being around programs that expect to play in the postseason.

"We might do things a little different than in the past. It's not like I'm trying to reinvent the wheel. It's not rocket science."

Lee said he has been influenced by plenty of head coaches, but in the end he will be his own man. Unlike Tanner, who took a notoriously conservative approach to the game, Lee will have a little more aggressive approach at the plate and on the bases.

"I think we've got the kind of team that will be able to run a little bit," Lee said. "We're going to steal some bases. Coach Tanner was very conservative as a head coach. That's what I'm used to, but I think you've got to play to your team's strengths. I'm kind of from the Earl Weaver school of thought that you've got 27 outs, why give the defense any of them?"

Lee inherits a lineup that has just four starters back from one of the most prolific hitting teams in SoCon history, establishing league marks for runs scored (627) and home runs (130) in 2008. However, gone from that lineup are first baseman Michael Harrington (.316, 26 HR, 82 RBI) and third baseman Jeremie Tice (.393, 25 HR, 83 RBIs).

"That was a team that could really swing the bats," Lee said. "There wasn't an easy out in their entire lineup."

But the cupboard is far from bare for the Cougars.

"Offensively, we should still be a pretty good ball team," Lee said. "Maybe not as good as last year, but we can swing the bats."

The Cougars will lean heavily on senior second baseman Brandon Sizemore (.325, 20 HR, 82 RBI) and shortstop Mike Hentz (.352, 7 HR and 44 RBIs).

Sizemore, a preseason All-American, was fourth in the nation in RBIs and led the SoCon with 24 doubles. Hentz, a second team All-SoCon pick in 2008, was ninth in the league in on-base percentage.

"Hentz and Sizemore are probably the two most heralded players we've got coming back," Lee said. "Sizemore can hit for power and drove in a ton of runs last year. Hentz was a great guy to have at the top of the order. He hit for a pretty high average and had a great on-base percentage. They're both very good defensively. They could probably play for just about any team in the country."

Outfielder Clay McCord, who stole 14 bases a year ago, will be the leadoff hitter.

Joash Brodin has impressed Lee during the preseason and will be the Cougars starting first baseman.

"Joash is the guy that has really made the biggest jump from one season to the next," Lee said. "I think Joash had maybe 40 or 50 at bats last year. Joash has really swung the bat well during the preseason and has developed into a really good hitter that will be somewhere in the middle of our lineup."

The Cougars' biggest concern will be on the mound where Lee has just two returning pitchers with more than 40 innings of work in 2008.

There's just a lot of unanswered questions about who's going to be able to step up and do what for us on the mound on a consistent basis," Lee said. "We just don't have a lot of guys that have a lot of Division I experience on the mound.

"If we're going to get to the postseason and have a chance at making a postseason run we're going to have to have a couple of guys step up for us on the mound."

The Cougars' ace will be Jesse Simpson (9-3, 3.88 ERA, 83Ks), who was the SoCon's preseason pitcher of the year.

"He's our No. 1 starter," Lee said. "He is going to give us a chance to win every time he's on the mound. It's the other guys that are a question mark."

The only other pitcher on the Cougars staff with any extensive experience is sophomore Casey Lucchese (5-3, 6.49 ERA).

Evan Goldberg (0-0, 11.12 ERA) will be counted on more this season, Lee said.

The Cougars face South Carolina twice (March 24 and April 14) this season. Despite spending the last six seasons with the Gamecocks, Lee said he'll try and treat it like any other game on the schedule.

"It'll be special, but honestly, I think you approach each game the same way no matter who your opponent is," Lee said. "Every game is important. I'm going to coach this game like I would any other game. I know a lot of those guys on their team, I recruited a lot of them, so from that standpoint it will be special, but when you step between those lines you're trying to win and the opponent doesn't matter."