Opening day for the baseball-themed play “Rounding Third” by Richard Dresser will be March 16 at the Butler Little Theatre.

Until then, the heavy hitters are in spring training, learning their cues and being put through their paces for this comedy.

The stars of “Rounding Third” are no strangers to the stage, nor to each other since they just wrapped up “Almost, Maine” at the Comtra Theatre in Cranberry Township.

Jeff Carey of Butler, an English teacher in the Penn Hills School District, is playing the part of Don, the “win at all costs” coach.

“Like Don, I am at times short-fused and quick to speak before thinking,” Carey said. “Unlike Don, I don't have experience coaching, but I have directed high school students in plays so I relate to the dynamics of motivating young minds and leading them toward a specific goal.”

The two-player cast doesn't daunt Carey.

“It's nice being in a small cast. With only two cast members, we never get a break at rehearsal while others work on scenes. It is all us. However, it's easy to remember when you have to speak,” he said.

Carey's co-star is played by Aaron Paul Zimmerman of New Brighton.

“I play Michael who is a very down to earth kind of guy, a family man and working man who wants to connect to his son, co-workers, boss, friends and everyone,” Zimmerman said. “He's easy going, but push him too far and he'll stand up for what he believes and expose his feelings.”

Though he's never been in just a two-person show before, he said he is confident because of his co-star.

“It's a lot of work to hold up my end, but doing the show with Jeff makes it easier, having worked with him before,” Zimmerman said.

Zimmerman said he feels a kinship to his character because they both share the ability to easily make friends.

“Michael kind of reminds me a little bit of a William H. Macy, a Woody Allen kind of character. I'm kind of like him in that I'm easy going and I don't get too upset but push me and I'll stand up also,” Zimmerman said.

During the course of baseball business, some real life issues arise. Despite their differences, the two characters unite for the benefit of their team.

The men begin to rethink questions about what it means to be a parent, how healthy competition is, and what it means to be an American male.

The actors pound through these issues under an experienced director coming back to the boards.

Director Paul Haughey returns to the BLT stage after a hiatus of some five years, having last directed “Romeo and Juliet.”

“The small cast size was attractive as I am very aware of the stress of big cast productions. I have done many in my active years. Also, this was a nice chance to become familiar working with some of the new talent that has hit BLT in my absence,” Haughey said.

Though he'd seen Zimmerman and Carey on stage, he thought directing “Rounding Third” would be a great way to get to know them as actors and as people.

Serving as producer for the show is Shirley Ann Minehart of Butler.

“While our last show, ‘The Smell of the Kill,' was a guilty pleasure for the ladies in our audience, ‘Rounding Third' provides good food for thought especially for men and fathers,” Minehart said. “It's a unique look at the relationship between coaches, players and their parents — contrasting the ‘win at all costs' attitude of head coach Don with that of assistant coach Michael's ‘can't we just have fun?' approach.”

IF YOU'RE GOING

WHO: Butler Little Theatre

WHAT: “Rounding Third” by Richard Dresser

WHEN: March 16 to 24, with curtain at 8:15 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and 2:30 p.m. Sundays.

WHERE: One Howard St.

TICKETS: $10, available by calling 724-287-6781 between 7 and 9 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.

INFO: www.bltgroup.org