Seneca Valley baseball coach Eric Semega has seen his fair share of curveballs in his 16 years as a coach of the Raiders.

This season comes the biggest hook yet.

In July, the PIAA adopted new pitching rules set to begin this spring that limits the workload of a high school pitcher based on number of pitches instead of innings.

Semega said only time will tell what kind of impact it will truly have on the game.

“That’s yet to be determined,” Semega said. “I think teams are going to have to have more pitchers ready more often. We’ll see how it plays out.”

The new rule caps a player at 100 pitches per outing and 200 in a calendar week.

If a pitcher throws between 76 and 100 pitches in a single game, he must have three days of rest.

There is no rest required if a player throws between zero and 25 pitches in an outing, but no player may pitch on three consecutive days.

For teams with deep staffs like Seneca Valley and Moniteau, the rule change may benefit them.

The Raiders have between six and nine viable options on the mound this season, Semega said.

The Warriors have just as many, said Moniteau coach Ross Martin.

“When those four-game weeks come, we should be in pretty good shape,” Martin said.

Most Butler County area coaches said the change will not significantly alter their strategy when it comes to handling their staff.

“I think it’ll be a little different,” said Mars coach Andy Bednar. “I think you’re going to have to be a little more prepared as a staff. Very rarely have I pitched a guy two times in a week.”

Butler coach Todd Erdos, who himself is a former Major League pitcher, said the new rule won’t change how he handles his staff.

“We’ve rarely if ever got a kid to 100 pitches,” Erdos said.

There is one issue, though, that coaches foresee that could cause problems.

The PIAA has left keeping track of pitch counts in the hands of the teams.

The home team has the official count while the visiting team will also chart pitches.

The two teams are encouraged to share counts frequently.

Semega did a run through in his scrimmages and the results were a bit alarming.

“Just last week we had a scrimmage and had three people keeping pitch counts,” Semega said. “We met after each inning and they all had something different. That can cause a lot of problems.

“I call the pitches,” Semega added. “I circle each pitch that I call, yet I had something different. It’s tough. It’s just an added thing to worry about.”

Erdos is also concerned about the procedure of keeping counts.

He has faith, though, that any kinks will be worked out.

“I have to believe that the honesty factor will play into it,” Erdos said.

Semega agreed.

“Hopefully coaches will be professional enough,” he said.

Ultimately, though, Semega would like to see a neutral third party be in charge of charting pitch counts.

“That’s what I think needs to happen,” Semega said. “But after the kinks are worked out, there may be no issue.”

Believing in Butler

Erdos has reason for optimism with two horses at the top of his pitching staff.

Senior Cade Negley, who has already signed to play in college at Santa Clara University, heads up the rotation with junior Connor Ollio, a University of North Carolina recruit, right behind.

Erdos can also call on other arms in his deep staff.

“I think we should fair pretty well on the mound,” Erdos said. “It’s just a matter of us producing on offense.”

Negley and Ollio will be charged with that task as well.

Center fielder Dallas Hays will lead off and already got started in a big way Friday with a single, double and triple in the Tornado opener.

Bounce back for SV

Seneca Valley lost eight games by one run last season.

That experience will help the Raiders this season, Semega said.

“We’re very optimistic this year,” Semega said.

Sophomore Cory Greiner is the ace of the staff. The left-hander is already a polished pitcher, Semega said.

“He’s very efficient and he throws four different pitches,” he said.

Reload at Mars

The Planets made history last season by winning their first WPIAL playoff game in 18 years.

But the winning pitcher in that game, Dave Anderson, is gone as are three other starters.

The five starters returning for Mars, though, are a solid group led by Northwestern University-bound junior catcher Jack Anderson and senior pitcher Dylan Rotz.

Anderson hit .409 last season and will anchor the lineup. Rotz was 3-2 with a 2.10 ERA and won a playoff game against Knoch.

Bednar is also looking for big things from seniors Brandon Wetherholt (.312 average) and Isaiah Johnson (.380) and junior Anthony Michalski (.324).

New blood at SR

Fred Pryor takes over a program that has some young talent.

That starts with a pair of juniors on the mound: Dylan Dingel and Ricky Mineo.

Dingel was dominant last season, posting a 1.14 ERA.

The Rockets have received a blow, however, as senior Gunner Becker, who was 7-0 with a 1.43 ERA, may not be able to pitch this season because of an arm injury.

“My goal is the same: win the region and win District 10,” Pryor said.

Winning Warriors

Coming off a District 9 championship, Moniteau is poised to make another run with a young and deep team.

Lake Pry, Jake Jewart, Nate Sosigian and Nick Sosigian will try to fill the pitching void left by the graduation losses of Derek Boben and Aaron Marterella, who combined to go 8-2 on the hill last season.

“We’re hoping to pick up where we left off,” Martin said. “This season will be different — every season is a little different — but the foundation has been set.

Other things to watch

Knoch has a new coach in Sean O’Donnell, but has some dynamic players returning, led by senior center fielder Dom Bucko and pitcher/first baseman P.J. Gourley.

Karns City also has a new coach. Dave McElroy takes over the program.

A new face will also be in the Freeport dugout this season as Ed Carr takes over for Chris Graczyk, who resigned after 22 seasons at the helm.