Karns City hopes to keep winning with veterans. Butler hopes to start winning with youth.

The high school baseball season begins Friday with numerous teams brimming with high expectations.

"I can't remember the last time this program's had a losing season," Karns City coach Dave McElroy said. "We've lost a lot of quality players, but I think we're gonna surprise some people."

The top two returnees for the Gremlins, who were 17-2 in 2003, are catcher Josh Smith and pitcher Scott Jordan, both seniors.

Smith hit .470 last year "and was the best player in our league," McElroy said. Jordan was 6-1 with a 0.44 earned run average, and senior center fielder Mike Stitt hit .400 a year ago.

Butler hasn't had a winning season in 12 years and might have three sophomores - left fielder Adam Miller, shortstop Aaron Ordy and infielder Anthony Pinto - in its starting lineup.

Miller hit .540 with 10 doubles for the Golden Tornado's section championship freshman team last year. Ordy hit .354 and Pinto hit .333 with two homers for the same squad.

"We haven't had a sophomore start at shortstop for us in a lot of years," Zawrotuk said. "But Aaron's very quick and has a good glove.

"If he can do the job for us, we have a shortstop for the next three years," he added.

Ordy had 48 strikeouts in 39 innings pitched for the freshman squad last year as well.

"Hopefully, these younger guys will be hungry and feel like they have something to prove," Zawrotuk said. "We haven't done a good job producing runs and that is what's hurt us in recent years.

"You have to have confidence you're going to win the game when you take the field. We've lacked that. We need to change that attitude this season."

Here is a look at area baseball this spring:

Coach:Jamie Hillwig, first yearLast year:1 winKey player lost:P-Brandon GardnerStarters back:2B-SS-P-Tyler Williams (senior), INF-P-Andy Smith (junior), C-Trevor Miller (junior), OF-Justin Casey (senior)Key newcomers:P-Kaleb Malley (senior), P-INF-OF-Corey Clawson (senior), P-SS-John Piecenski (junior), P-Chuck Rossman (senior), P-RF-3B-Jake Pentz (senior)Coach Hillwig says:"We've been concentrating heavily on the defensive side of the game. If we can stop runs from coming in, we'll stay in games. Piecenski is a great athlete and a key addition to the team."

Coach:Ron Zawrotuk, seventh yearLast year:5-10Key players lost:Jake Cuffman, Todd Cypher, Tim Nebel, Adam Collins, Justin Julius, Chad Gladd, Dan Forbes, Jake Slater, Jake Voight, Jared Hohn, Mike WilbertStarters back:3B-Josh Edwards (senior), CF-Matt McCune (senior), P-Tony Rossmiller (senior), Bill Coulter (senior)Key newcomers:LF-Adam Miller (soph.), RF-Patrick Hohn (senior), SS-Aaron Ordy (soph.), 2B-Todd Walker (senior), 1B-Mike Dorondo (senior) or Tom Wigton (junior), C-Clayton Smith (junior), P-Shane Seybert (senior), Tom Levere (senior), Adam Palace (senior), INF-Anthony Pinto (soph.)Coach Zawrotuk says:"Everybody wants to be strong defensively and we're no exception. Our veteran pitchers have to step up. We had only one complete game last year. We want to keep climbing the ladder and contend for a playoff spot."

Coach:Chris Graczyk, fourth yearLast year:7-10Key players lost:Dennis Gearhart (football at Waynesburg), Cory Weibel (Seton Hill)Starters back:P-1B-Ben Smith (senior), C-Jake Lassinger (junior), 2B-Kory Micholas (junior) .350, SS-Luke Westerman (senior) .350, LF-Tim Tomayko (senior) .350, RF-Ben Cataldi (senior)Key newcomers:INF-Cody Betush (junior), INF-P-Mike Barch (junior), OF-P-Nathan Kurtz (junior), OF-Luke Turner (junior)Coach Graczyk says:"Our goal is always to win the section. We've got pretty good team speed and we're hitting the ball well in the cage. As always, pitching is suspect."

Coach:Pat Forese, 17th yearLast year:20-3Key players lost:11 seniors, including Josh Pratt (Seton Hill)Starters back:C-Dustin Caylor (senior), SS-P-Jesse Alfreno (soph.)Key newcomers:OF-INF-P-Joe Ennis (senior), 3B-Bill Herman (junior), OF-Eric Day (senior)Coach Forese says:"We are very young and we will lack game experience. We only have a couple of juniors and a lot of sophomores. The kids are working hard. It will just take some time."

Coach:Dave McElroy, fifth yearLast year:17-2Key players lost:Matt Clayton, Jake Wilson, Travis Trimbur (Slippery Rock University), Nathan McCollough (Butler County Community College), Brett StivasonStarters back:C-Josh Smith (senior) .470, 2B-P-Scott Jordan (senior) 6-1, 0.44 ERA, CF-Mike Stitt (senior) .400, OF-David Black (junior), 1B-David Slagle (senior)Key newcomers:3B-Mike Stimac (senior), Travis Simpson (senior), OF-Ryan Earley (junior), P-SS-Tyler Callihan (junior), OF-P-Kyle Texter (junior), 2B-Shayne Bell (senior)Coach McElroy says:"I think we'll surprise some people, even looking at the numbers we've lost. At Karns City, we're blessed with a lot of good athletes. We had 40 kids come out for baseball and that makes for a lot of competition."

Coach:Curt Schnur, fifth yearLast Year:10-9Key players lost:Neil Hoagland (Grove City), Adam Sikorski (Frederick (Md.) Community College), Jason Virag (Butler County Community College), Matt Leslie, Matt Koren, Jay BergerStarters back:3B-INF-P-Jeff Foster (senior), C-Todd Kennedy (senior) .328, P-1B-Zach Toth (senior) 5-3, P-John Lefevre (junior) 3 winsKey newcomer:P-Joe Arndt (junior)Coach Schnur says:"Our pitching is usually strong and should be that way again. We have a lot of unsettled positions that could be filled with sophomores. Expectations for this program don't change. We've had a nice run the past five or six years and our goal is annually to win our section, make the playoffs and go from there."

Coach:Andy Bednar, sixth yearLast year:16-4Key players lost:Dan DeMarco (Geneva), Brian Hart (Penn State-Behrend), Josh Rape (Slippery Rock University), Derec Ciafre, Dusty AikenStarters back:1B-P-Mike Skurko (senior) 2-1, 4.11 ERA, 3B-P-Ryan Cooper (senior) .317, 2-0, 1.27 ERAKey newcomers:OF-Zach Modig, Zach Rosswog (senior), C-Andy Slivosky (junior), 2B-Adam Fleming (junior), INF-Ryan Lynch (soph.), Charlie Jaicks (soph.)Coach Bednar says:"We're developing fundamentals and we have to do the little things right this year. We have to field ground balls, our pitchers have to throw strikes. If we commit less than two errors per game, bunt with runners on and get sacrifice flies, we can be successful. We graduated three pitchers who threw a combined 80-plus innings for us last year. We need to establish ourselves during our spring trip (to South Carolina)."

Coach:Arnie Trufley, eighth yearLast year:4-16Key players lost:NoneStarters back:3B-Andy Litzinger (senior), SS-P-Clay Kohlmeyer (senior), 2B-P-Nathan Markle (junior), 1B-Mike Benson (junior), Cory Campbell (soph.), C-Garth Kohlmeyer (soph.) .328, RF-Matt Binca (senior), CF-Josh Warburton (junior)Key newcomers:NoneCoach Trufley says:"Last year, we were a junior varsity team playing a varsity schedule. Now, Binca and (Clay) Kohlmeyer are four-year lettermen, Litzinger is a three-year letterman. We have experience now and a couple of pretty good pitchers. Our goal is to make the playoffs and we have a good bunch of kids working hard for it."

Coach:Eric Semega, fourth yearLast year:8-11Key player lost:CF-Dom Duggan (John Carroll)Starters back:P-Ryan Page (senior) 4-2, Scott Carney (senior), Jason Davis (junior), C-Dan Reale (senior), 3B-Ben Follett (senior), SS-Chris Tremblay (junior), 2B-P-John Sklarsky (junior), RF-Andrew Wilmoth (senior), OF-Adam Ranalli (senior), OF-Joe Sklarsky (senior)Key newcomer:C-Kevin Smith (soph.)Coach Semega says:"We should be pretty good. We're going to hit the ball well and Ryan Page is our staff ace. In the seventh inning, we should have the opportunity to win each game and that's all we can ask."

Coach:Cory Hake, third yearLast year:14-7Key players lost:1B-Joel Basta, 2B-Matt Messer (Slippery Rock University), SS-P-Scott Rice (Slippery Rock University), 3B-Adam Rose (Slippery Rock University), OF-Dan Christiansen, OF-P-Mike DeColaStarters back:OF-1B-P-Bill Dillon (senior) 16 RBI, C-Ross Ketzel (senior), SS-P: Sean Ray (soph.) .300, P-Josh Cress (soph.) 5 winsKey newcomers:INF-Drew Boland (senior), OF-Luke Willhite (senior), 1B-Jeremy Brunst (senior)Coach Hake says:"We have a nice group of senior leaders mixing in with younger kids. Our chemistry looks very good. We finished third behind Hickory and Grove City last year. With Reynolds and Sharon improving, we're hoping we can continue to compete with everybody like we have the past few years."

Coach:John McCloud, first yearLast year:0-15Key players lost:EveryoneStarters back:NoneKey newcomers:P-1B-Haadee Bennett (junior), P-3B-Jeffrey Branche (senior), SS-CF-P: Zach Roberts (freshman), 2B-SS-Jermaine Copelan (soph,), P-Eric Aptleton (freshman)Coach McCloud says:"We start to get on track by practicing long and hard every day. We play sports here to build character first. Winning comes second."

Coach:Alan Carmichael, third yearLast year:8-8Key players lost:Michael Flick (PSU-Beaver), Dustin Hawk, Garrett ConawayStarters back:LF-Derek Carmichael (senior), CF-Billy Burns (soph.), INF-C-P-Adam Milanovich (junior),SS-P-Kyle Hilliard (soph.)Key newcomers:P-INF-Brett Moore (freshman), OF-Jamie Hughes (senior), INF-C-Jeremy Craig (senior), P-2B-Kara McCall (junior)Coach Carmichael says:"These boys won't accept playing for anything but ultimate success. A lot of younger kids are fighting for positions and our lineup is up in the air. We have some good pitching, and my expectations are to make the playoffs."