JACKSON TWP - The Seneca Valley baseball team's first loss this season didn't occur on the diamond.

In fact, it came a month before the 2005 season began.

After being disciplined following a fight on Seneca Valley school grounds last winter, senior shortstop Chris Tremblay decided to take his talents to Boardman (Ohio) High School.

The news of the transfer was revealed to Seneca's baseball squad the first week of tryouts in late February.

"I was just plain shocked when I first found out," said Raiders junior catcher Kevan Smith, a good friend of Tremblay's. "I couldn't get it out of my head until I was able to talk to him later that day. He said he was sad about the way everything happened."

The loss of Tremblay was a hard pill to swallow.

A three-year starter for the Raiders, he batted .551 in the third spot of lineup in 2004 and played nearly flawless defense.

Last November, Tremblay signed a letter of intent to play baseball at Kent State University.

"Yes, Chris was a great player for us," said Seneca Valley coach Eric Semega. "We will miss having him on the team, but we can't dwell on it.

"This team moved on the day we found out he was leaving."

Taking over the shortstop position is freshman Shane Patsilevas.

"Our shortstop and second baseman (Mike Eonta) are both freshmen, and they're very talented players," said Semega. "We're not losing anything with them out there."

Eonta and Patsilevas are the Raiders' No. 1 and 2 hitters, respectively.

"(Smith) was going to hit in the cleanup spot behind (Tremblay)," Semega said of his catcher. "But he is now in that three hole. He sure can hit the ball."

With Tremblay's absence, the team will look to Smith for leadership.

"During my freshman and sophomore seasons, I was a follower," said Smith. "But I had a talk with Coach before the season and he said I needed to become a leader.

"We can't let anybody screw around off the field," he added. "That's happened on this team before and once it starts, it spreads throughout the team."

Smith said that he has talked to Tremblay a few times since the latter moved to Ohio.

"He was a year in front of me and I really looked up to him," said Smith. "He and his new team just went down to a tournament in Florida. It sounds like he's having a blast."

Entering Friday's game at Kiski Area, the Raiders were 2-3 overall and 0-1 in Section 1-AAAA play.