Lakeland’s Josh Natale.
There’s only so much room in the newspaper, so here’s a more in-depth preview of the Lackawanna League Division III.
Coaches’ favorite: Lakeland
Others receiving votes: Old Forge, Holy Cross
Don’t count out: Anyone. Mid Valley, Dunmore, Riverside, Carbondale Area … anyone.
What to watch for:
- Transition: For teams hit hard by graduation — Lakeland, Old Forge and Mid Valley, especially — it’s moving on to the next of players, seeing which ones can be reliable and make an impact, and how quickly they can adjust. For others, it’s taking that next step from being a solid team to one that wins consistently.
- Last year: Lakeland posted a +84 run differential last season and, as a result, found itself atop the standings — not to mention the district in Class AA. Mid Valley (+64) and Old Forge (+82) tied for second in the standings. Of those three, Lakeland returns the most starters (six), but also loses a great deal in Times-Tribune Player of the Year Eric Grabowski. Mid Valley gets five starters back, and showed it has some potential in Wednesday’s 10-0 win over Carbondale Area. Old Forge has the most work to do, with only two starters back. One team to keep an eye on, based on last year’s results, is Dunmore, which posted a +19 run differential despite a sub-.500 record (5-7 in Division III, 6-9 overall). The Bucks get five starters back, and all five are seniors, so the experience is there.
- New wave of players: Only two players who made the coaches’ all-star team last season return to their teams: Riverside’s Brian Roche and Lakeland’s James Blevins, who is also the only All-Region player back in the Lackawanna League. That opens the door for a lot of new talent.
- Good return: Holy Cross finished 3-9 in the division last year. The Crusaders might have run into a bit of bad luck, though, finishing with a run differential of -26 (-1.73 per game). That shouldn’t be too bad of a hill to climb for a team that returns a Division III-best eight starters — three seniors, two juniors and three sophomores. At seven, Riverside has the second most starters back.
- The big question: Is there a true favorite in this division? Not sure there’s an answer right now. Stay tuned.
More from the favorite: Q&A with Lakeland coach Larry Piccini
- What does sophomore starting pitcher Sean Pittack have to do to take the next step? He just has to go out and give us quality innings, be efficient, keep his pitch count down, and just develop that bulldog mentality.
- What’s going to be the key for you guys? I think the big thing is our pitchers have to throw strikes, and play solid defense. If you throw strikes and play fundamentally sound, make the routine plays, on defense, you have a chance to win every game. At least, you’ll be in every game.
- And you guys were pretty good on defense last year, too. We played very well defensively. When Eric pitched and Josh (Natale) played shortstop, he did a great job for us. He made all the plays. He played real well in the playoffs. That’s something that maybe goes overlooked a little bit, but that was a big part of our success.
