No, the Haddam-Killingworth baseball team hasn't adopted the comic book super-villain the Riddler as its new mascot. All those question marks on the lineup card aren't part of a diabolical scheme; they are there because the Cougars aren't quite sure what to expect in 2012 after graduating seven of their nine starters.

HK opened its 2012 campaign on April 4 when it took on Shoreline Conference foe Old Saybrook, starting a season with more blanks needing to be filled than certainties. The Cougars were 13-9 in 2011, led by a strong senior class of nine players, but now have the task of retooling and regrouping with numerous fresh faces.

"With seven starters graduated, we need to replace the middle infield and the entire outfield with new players," said Coach Mark Brookes. "The positional players who graduated averaged .350 and 15 RBIs each."

Brookes has turned to seniors Dan Kovach and Andrew Mead to captain the 2012 team. Kovach is the Cougars' catcher and hit .365 with 15 RBI a season ago, while Mead should have one of the outfield spots wrapped up. Also returning for HK are seniors Wes Nuhn, Matt Sturman, and Aidan Grealish, along with juniors Nick Landell, Jake Decarli, Cody Harlow, and Liam Gallagher. Nuhn might be the most experienced of the bunch as he manned the hot corner and toed the rubber in 2011, going 2-2 with a 3.92 ERA and batting .339. Sturman will play first base this season and looks to build on his .272 average from 2011, while Landell will play short and try to replicate his .428 average from his sophomore year. Returning pitchers Decarli (2-1, 1.14 ERA) and Gallagher (0-1, 2.47 ERA) could be a bright spot for HK as it looks to navigate some deep waters.

"We have some pitching returning in Nuhn, Decarli, Coire Parmentier, and Gallagher," Brookes said.

Brookes notes that there aren't many days off in a tough Shoreline Conference with the likes of East Hampton, Cromwell, North Branford, and Westbrook who Brookes says, "all have a significant number of returning players." He also pointed to Coginchaug, Haley-Ray, Valley, and Old Saybrook as teams who could contend in 2012.

The Cougars are in action again on Friday, April 6 by traveling to Old Lyme and starting a stretch of five of seven games on the road to open the season.