"As much as I enjoyed this season," McCloskey said, "I cannot wait to get started for next year."

McCloskey is anxious because he returns all but five starters from this season's 11-7 squad that lost to Latrobe, 6-2, in a first-round Quad-A playoff contest at Gateway. However, the five senior veterans contributed greatly to Lebo's success--the Blue Devils finished runner-up to Peters Township in the Section 4 standings.

Eddie Gavett began the spring as Lebo's lone returning starter. He dominated at first base. Offensively, he batted .367 with 16 runs and RBI.

Adam Soodik started in right while Kevin Byrne started in left field. Jeremy Tiedeman handled the hot corner at third and Jeremy Silver doubled as shortstop and designated hitter.

A tough out was Ian Happ. The freshman started at second base and led Lebo at the plate with a .451 batting average and a .561 on-base percentage. He drove in 11 and scored 16 runs.

Juniors John Bruni and Tommy Sims will return next season to make Lebo even stronger defensively up the middle. Bruni started in center field and Sims behind the plate.

Thus, the veteran corps of pitchers will have little adjustments to make. Lebo's main aces, Kevin Ostergaard, Jordan Packy and Pete Slavonic return to the mound. Despite coming off major back surgery, Slavonic managed to pitch 20.33 innings with 19 strikeouts. Ostergaard and Packy both posted 4-2 records with 28 and 27 strikeouts as well as 2.55 and 3.60 ERAs respectively.

While Happ and Bruni can pitch in the pinch, Lebo can also rely upon juniors Marc Rizzo and Quinn Difenderfer next season as both are juniors.

Though Lebo losses Brian Donahoe and Andrew Schneck also to graduation this June, juniors Ben Fitchett and Steve Phy as well as freshman Jack Faett bring back strong sticks as well as gloves to next year's roster.

"This year was the most I have ever enjoyed coaching because this group maximized their potential unlike any other team I've been around," McCloskey said.

The Blue Devils just couldn't maximize their timing for while they hit the ball hard in the loss to Latrobe they could not find any undefended space on the diamond.

"I thought our players had a good aggressive approach to hitting," McCloskey said. "We put the ball in play throughout the game, but it seemed that we hit some pretty hard outs. I was very proud that our players kept a good mental approach in such a high-pressure atmosphere."