SEASIDE >> The sleepless nights have passed. A new season has once again created lofty ambitions. Yet, you can hear it in Walt White’s voice that it still eats at him.

To be one out from a trip to the NCAA College Division II World Series has been hard for the Cal State Monterey Bay baseball coach to erase from his mind completely.

“I don’t want to say it consumes me,” White said. “But there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think about last season. We were as close as we possibly could be.”

Kicking at the door for the last two years is no longer good enough for the Otters — who open their season Friday hosting Western Oregon — having tied the single-season school record for wins in each of the last two years with 39.

“I feel it’s going to take 40 wins to bust through that door,” said White, who begins his 15th season at CSUMB. “Those that are back understand we’re good enough to win the whole thing.”

The reigning two-time California Collegiate Athletic Association champions have put together nine straight winning seasons — piling up 35 or more wins the past four seasons.

Reaching the NCAA Super Regionals for the second straight year last year, the Otters won the first game and held a 7-5 lead in the ninth inning in the second game of a best-of-three series at Point Loma.

Top-seed Point Loma tied the game to force extra frames. CSUMB fell 10-8 in 13 innings.

Momentum zapped, CSUMB’s historic season ended three hours later after a 7-1 loss in the third and deciding game.

“The success of our program is based on perspective,” White said. “You can’t dwell on it. You have to face it head on. When you have adversity, how do you deal with it?”

Owner of 406 wins since arriving and taking an 8-41 team, White has captured five conference titles and made seven regional playoff appearances, including the past three.

“It’s not about talent,” White said. “We have that. Can we care about each other and understand that there will be ups and downs? How do you respond when you get your butts kicked?

That jubilant smile and fiery attitude that White brings to practice is contagious. Like a kid on Christmas morning, he can’t hide his excitement about the roster CSUMB has this season.

A potent lineup that hit .324 as a team and belted 74 homers last spring is cemented with five returning starters, including power-hitting first baseman Jaden Shepherd.

All the 6-foot-6, 234-pound slugger did last season was hit 15 homers and drive in 63 runs in 56 games, hitting .355.

“If I’m being honest, I’m expecting more,” White said. “Of course, everyone has a book about him. But we have enough around him to where you’re going to have to pitch to him.”

Hitting either in front or behind him this spring will be Cole Murchison, who sprayed the ball around the field to a team-high .357 clip, while driving in 48 runs.

“He can just hit,” said White, speaking about the 220-pound Murchison.

So can center fielder KW Quilici, who hit .349 with 11 homers and 53 runs batted in, finishing with a team-high 44 walks and a .472 on-base percentage.

Perhaps the feel-good story from last season was Max Farfan, who emerged in the second half of the season, filling a void at shortstop, while hitting five homers.

White was fearful that he was going to lose the Salinas High graduate before the two sat down in the office for a conversation.

“We talked about how he can enjoy baseball again,” White said. “The game beat him up at the start of the year. It was an intrasquad game where he discovered the love of the game again.”

The 6-foot-2, 210-pound Farfan started the last 12 games for CSUMB, collecting four multiple-hit games, including a three-homer game.

“Sometimes it’s about controlling your emotions and self-esteem,” White said. “He got an opportunity and just went off.”

White is also welcoming back a pair of catchers that split time in former MPC slugger Dominic Felice and Sergio Solis. UC Riverside transfer Anthony McFarland is expected to shore up the hot spot at third base and hit No. 2 in the order.

“I think I recruit differently,’ White said. “I’m relatable. My job is to live up to everything I talk about. It’s not about at-bats and playing. You’ll get an opportunity to earn it. There’s a reason our best players aren’t in the transfer portal.”

What feels different this spring for White is the return of an experienced pitching staff that features four starters and the core of the bullpen from last spring.

“The strength of our team will be our pitching,” insisted White. “That hasn’t been said in the past. Where we are better is with our overall depth. We have upgraded the talent pool. We have 13 guys that throw 90-plus mph.”

Among them is Monte Vista graduate Aiden Lee, who has hit 97 mph on the radar gun this spring, now two years removed from elbow surgery.

Last year Lee made 17 appearances with eight starts, finishing with a 3-1 record and three saves, striking out 64 hitters in 41 innings of work.

“He feels he can let it go and know where it’s going,” White said. “He could start or relieve for me. Early in the season, no one is throwing more than two or three innings.”

The return of Nate Rohlicek and all-conference selection Mitchell Torres give White his No. 1 and 2 starters back. Last spring the pair were a combined 11-4 with Rohlicek striking out a team-high 82 hitters and Torres compiling a 5-1 record with a 3.48 earned run average. Joining them in the rotation will be Arizona State transfer Dillon Gardner.

“I’m excited about our rotation,” White said. “It also gives me anxiety. When you have this type of depth, you have to find ways to keep them sharp. I don’t want anyone in the dugout reading a book.”

The bullpen will feature the return of Vicent Cilolello, who led the team in saves with five, while compiling a 2.44 ERA with a 94 mph heater.

“He’s shown he’s capable of pitching out of the bullpen in save situations every day,” White said. “He’s increased his fastball by 5 mph.”

Getting over a barrier that has blocked them the past two years does create a sense of urgency for White.

“You don’t know if you’re going to get back to that spot,” White said. “Staying relevant, on the forefront of people’s minds is important. The goal is to win the national championship. Our goals are realistic.”

With a roster hovering around 41 players, White believes he has 41 players who can help him win. But only nine can be on the field at once.

“Winning keeps everyone pulling in one direction,” White said. “We talk about it. I tell them ‘your job is to make it difficult on me.’ I will see it in practice. I’ve had guys that didn’t see a lot of action come through in clutch situations because they were mentally prepared. It takes every single guy to make this a success. Everyone has a role to play.”