Or so my inherent melodrama would elevate the loss of UCSD ace Camille Gaito.

Last week, graduated UCSD pitcher Camille Gaito was named one of the 2012 San Diego Stars of the Year for the second straight year, in recognition of her second straight season leading the Tritons to the National Championship game.

Gaito finished out her senior season with a number of program records, including 98 career wins, 617 career strikeouts and 877.2 innings.

It’s not outrageous to claim that UCSD’s success during the past couple seasons has hinged on its defense.

Despite finishing second at the NCAA Division II Championships, the Tritons are nowhere to be found in the national rankings for batting average, slugging percentage, scoring or even win-loss percentage. The only categories where UCSD numbers among the top 50 in the country are in ERA and fielding percentage, due in large part to the efforts of Gaito, who pitched every inning of the 14-game postseason.

The serendipity of the timing of the award — just one week before UCSD’s first exhibition game — is a bittersweet reminder of the massive restructuring the team will face leading up to this season.

The Tritons will retain big hitters junior Caitlin Brown, junior Jennifer Manuel and sophomore Charly Swanberg, as well as golden glove junior Mya Romero, while freshman phenom Taylor Sepulveda will return from her sophomore season’s injury. However, among the losses is longtime leadoff hitter Kris Lesovsky, last season’s leader in runs, hits, at-bats, RBI and slugging percentage.

So what then will 2013’s lineup likely look like? UCSD head coach Patti Gerckens will have some tough decisions to make in the bullpen. The Tritons got a few promising starts out of freshmen Kayla Hensel and Michelle Escamilla in 2012, but neither saw much time past the fourth inning, as they were relieved in favor of Gaito. Gerckens always has the option of throwing righthander Manuel into the rotation, but the senior may serve better as a pinch-hitter than anything else.

Without any other options — Gerckens has decided to keep the roster surprisingly compact this season — the Tritons will probably have to rely more on offensive output if they are to remain competitive in 2013.

Brown will likely be looked toward to continue to produce in the three-spot, Swanberg will likely continue as clean-up while Romero — a batter with very convincing on-base numbers — may be relied on to lead-off. Look for Gerckens to experiment with the lineup over the course of her preseason.

But in any case, without the help of Gaito on the mound, the Tritons will look very different on the diamond.