Scott Folmar

The potential is there. The experience is not.

That’s a factor the Chambersburg baseball team will have to deal with for the 2019 season.

The Trojans finished 11-9 last year and reached the District 3 playoffs, but only three full-time starters from that team are back.

“We are very young and inexperienced at the varsity level,” Chambersburg coach Scott Folmar said. “But I believe the group has potential — with a lot of work. And I think that potential trickles down to the freshmen class, which I think has a chance to be pretty good.”

The Trojans open with a doubleheader Saturday at Greater Latrobe, playing the host Wildcats at noon and Laurel Highlands at 3 p.m.

Max Armstrong

The returning everyday players are senior catcher Brady Hughes, senior third baseman Max Armstrong and sophomore Aaden Newman, who moves to first base.

Newman batted .306, with seven RBIs, Hughes hit .264 with 6 RBIs and 13 runs and Armstrong batted .254 with five RBIs, 13 runs and a team-high five doubles.

Three other players got in the lineup at times — junior centerfielder Brady Stumbaugh (.043, 5 RBIs), junior infielder/pitcher Elijah Snyder (.200, 6 IP, 3 hits, 1 ER), junior outfielder Andrew Wurtz (.364) and senior pitcher Bryson Byers (2-1, 14.2 IP, 26 hits, 20 earned runs).

Folmar said, “We’re going to have to play well defensively, and because the pitchers won’t throw it past many batters, they’ll need to throw strikes.”

The main pitching core includes right-handers Snyder and Armstrong and lefties Byers (1-1 last year), junior Mason Yeager and freshman Hunter Stevens.

“I like what I’ve seen so far with Stevens,” Folmar said. “He’s 6-feet, throws left-handed and has a lot of potential.”

Brady Hughes

The tentative starting lineup for Saturday will include Hughes at catcher, Newman, Stevens or Yeager at first base, junior Brandon Kissinger or Snyder at second base, sophomore Gavin Kissel at shortstop, Armstrong at third base and an outfield that has Wurtz in left, Stumbaugh in center and sophomore Joey Maun in right.

“Kissel has a chance to be pretty good and he will play a lot,” Folmar said.

Other players who may see playing time are senior infielder Orlian Roman Reyes, junior outfielder Brody Rife and freshman catcher Greg Cunha.

Power hitting will again not be the Trojans’ calling card.

“We’ll have to manufacture runs, playing small ball and hit-and-run,” Folmar said. “We played that last year and we weren’t always good at it. There were a couple of situations if we’d done better we might have won one or two other games, including the district playoff.

“A lot of kids aren’t used to that style of play, and that has a big affect on your success rate. We have some guys who could bunt for a hit, and the more they learn it, the more successful they’ll be.”

The Mid Penn Commonwealth is loaded with talent again this year. Folmar said Red Land is the team to beat, but Cedar Cliff will be right there and so will Cumberland Valley.

“We should be there in that next group of teams that all seem pretty equal,” Folmar said.

“We have to throw strikes and play good defense. If we do those, we have a chance to hit enough to win some games, and that could make us a pretty decent team.”

NOTES: Newman was an MPC Commonwealth Honorable Mention pick last year … Chambersburg’s home opener at Greene Township Park is March 27 at 4:30 vs. State College … Other non-league games for the Trojans are Dover, Greencastle-Antrim, Gettysburg and Waynesboro … Chambersburg won its last five games last year to reach the playoffs … As a team last year, Chambersburg had 23 doubles, five triples and no home runs.