RAJA THIRU/Arizona Daily Wildcat Head coach Andy Lopez directs his players from the dugout yesterday during practice.

If you think the baseball season ended with the World Series, you might want to head over to Sancet Field sometime before Saturday.

That's where the Arizona baseball team is putting the finishing touches on three weeks of team practices and scrimmages affectionately known as "fall ball."

Moises Duran, one of just three seniors on Arizona's roster, said he likes fall ball for the same reason the coaches and even a few fans like to watch the intrasquad games: to get a sneak peek at the fresh crop of newcomers before it debuts in the spring.

"I just like to see the new talent," Duran said. "I like to come out here and play in the fall because we've been off for like two months, so it's good to be able to come out here and show what we've all got."

Head coach Andy Lopez said he uses the three weeks of fall team practice allowed by the NCAA to address specific problems and to evaluate newcomers who are trying to make the roster.

"It's imperative. We need it more than anything we do, probably - even some of the things we're doing in the spring," Lopez said. "It's like spring football: You get a chance to come out, and some questions get answered, and then there's some questions that rise up, too."

One of the bigger questions at the beginning of fall ball was just how good the new freshman class - a class ranked ninth in the nation by Baseball America and fourth by Collegiate Baseball - really is.

It seems the coaching staff got its answer.

"Real good," assistant coach Mark Wasikowski said. "It's our second real good class in a row."

The words were hardly out of the coach's mouth when freshman infielder Tyler Wicke blasted a batting practice pitch over the 40-foot batter's eye in center field, eliciting murmurs of appreciation from teammates.

Another freshman Lopez said stood out from the pack, pitcher Mark Melancon, said his experience with fall ball made him glad he chose Arizona.

"It's been better than I expected," he said. "I had only heard good things, but coming out here and going through everything has been great. I can't even explain it, because the baseball here is awesome."

Melancon also said practicing with the team helped him adjust to big-time college baseball.

"Yeah, (it helped) because we're in real live situations," he said. "We treat it as a real game and, if you mess up, coach will let you know."

According to Duran, that kind of trial by fire is exactly what the newcomers need in order to become contributors to the team in the spring.

"I think a lot of us need to mature, and a lot of freshmen need to stop being freshmen and become sophomores very quickly because we're going to need 'em," Duran said. "(Fall ball) is experience for the new guys to realize what D1 college baseball is all about. It's a little bit faster than high school and JC ball."

But with all the questions the coaching staff was trying to answer, some of the players had a much more pressing question in mind: Would they make the team?

"For the freshmen, the new guys and the guys that are trying to make the final 33-man roster, it's probably more intense than anything they'll go through," Lopez said. "They're trying to make the club, and it's only three weeks of play in which to prove themselves."

Once the team wraps up fall ball with an intrasquad scrimmage Saturday at 2 p.m., Lopez said the coaching staff will continue to hold individual drills until Thanksgiving in accordance with NCAA restrictions. The team will then have the rest of the semester off for final exams.

Even though he's only been in a Wildcat uniform for three weeks, Melancon said the upcoming break would bring welcome rest. Asked what he plans to do with his afternoons once practice is over, he had only one thing in mind - sleep.