Putting a competitive baseball roster together isn't easy — especially when your competition had a head start.

That's what the Butler BlueSox and Slippery Rock Sliders faced in trying to assemble teams for their debut seasons in the Prospect League this season.

"As soon as we knew we had a franchise, which was mid-November, we went to work on it," Sliders owner Mike Bencic said. "Problem was, the established teams had been getting players since September or even earlier."

Butler and Slippery Rock are two of five new franchises merging with the former Central Illinois Collegiate League to form the new Prospect Wooden Bat League.

"Those CIAC teams have already been open for business," Bencic said. "They've been through this. They have a leg up on us."

Both Butler County teams have used their own resources to gather players, however. BlueSox owner Leo Trich had plenty of baseball ties through the Frontier League and his manager, former Traverse City Beach Bums hitting coach Jason Wuerfel, isn't that far removed from college ball himself.

Sliders manager Chase Rowe is head coach at LaRoche College, and Slippery Rock University coach Jeff Messer, whose son, Billy, is playing for the Sliders, served as an adviser to the team as it searched for players.

"We were two months late in getting started," Trich agreed. "College coaches want to place their players in these summer leagues as early as possible so they don't have to concern themselves with it later."

Trich said 70 percent of the BlueSox roster was accumulated through college coaches calling him. The other 30 percent were through Wuerfel's baseball contacts.

"Our final roster is at 24 players and we had 75 players recommended to us," Trich said.

Because logistics prevent any tryout session, the players were weeded out through Wuerfel's thoughts, the word of the college coaches involved, the checking of statistics and, in some cases, discussion with the players' respective high school coaches.

"As the roster takes shape, you see you have a need at a certain position and that becomes a factor, too," Trich said.

The players sign contracts, which are similar to college letters of intent, that bind them to their summer team. The player cannot play for another team unless he is released from that contract.

"We would release a player if he found an opportunity to play closer to home, something happened with his family where he needed to be closer to home, or he had a chance to play in the Cape Cod League," Trich said. "We won't stop a player from moving up, but we won't let him make a lateral move."

The BlueSox have 17 colleges or universities represented on their roster. The Sliders have 18. Butler has players coming from as far away as Tulane University in New Orleans and Quincy, Ill.

Slippery Rock has players coming from community colleges in Delgado, La., Grayson, Texas, and Gulf Coast Community College in Florida.

Twelve of the BlueSox players are from Pennsylvania. The Sliders are in a similar situation.

"We've got 26 players and we need only nine host families," Bencic said. "Some of our guys are Slippery Rock University students and will live on campus all summer."

Catcher-outfielder Derek Diruscia, infielder Messer, pitchers John Thomas and J.T. Thomas are SRU players on the Sliders' roster.

The BlueSox have Butler graduates Aaron Ordy (California [Pa.]) and Brian Warheit (Seton Hill) on their roster. Warheit will pitch the season opener June 4 against Lorain (Ohio).

"They say it takes 18 months to put a baseball team on the field," Bencic said. "We did it in 12. All we need now is time to jell."