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“Oh, to be young again.” Actually, Bloomsburg head coach Matt Haney would like to change that old adage to “Oh, to be old again.” With 24 underclassmen dominating his roster this season, the Huskies will have an abundance of youthfulness on the team, but not much experience. In baseball, experience counts for a lot.

“We are concerned about the youth factor,” said Haney. “We have some good young players who have not been exposed to college baseball. The strength of our team will have to be our pitching staff and catcher where we have a few upperclassmen. Right now I am anxious and excited about the upcoming season.”

“Our pitching staff I hope will be able to give fits to opposing hitters since we will feature five lefthanders on the squad. We will need to get quality innings from all our starters.”

“We also have to help our players get used to playing a 52 game schedule in a two-month time span,” Haney continued. “To go from a 19-20 game high school season to a collegiate schedule is grueling both physically and mentally. We need to keep our players fit in both areas.”

Here is a look at the 2001 Huskies position by position.

Jason Helcoski will start and be backed up by Chadd Guss. Helcoski is one of the team's power sources along with being able to go the opposite way. He also has good hands on defense and has improved a great deal over the last two years. Guss has also shown dramatic improvement from a year ago and will see time as the DH in addition to first.

This is one of the question marks for the team going into the season. Who will emerge is anyone's guess. Among those competing for time are Steve Buttorff, who has good hands to go with an improving bat, and freshmen Trent Berner, Larry Piccini and Andrew Gideon.

Paul Santay, a red-shirt last season, is penciled in as the starter for the Huskies. Santay suffered a broken wrist in the fall, but is expected to start the season at full strength.

Brian Zorger, a transfer from Mansfield, will get the first shot at third base for the Huskies. Along with Zorger will be freshman Ryan Mengle.

“What I need out of the outfield is to catch the ball, make the routine plays, and hit the cutoff man, and we should be okay there,” said Haney.

Brian Martin, who started 30 games as a freshman last season, and Mansfield transfer Todd Schulberger should battle for time in left field. Martin's experience should result in some improvement this season. Schulberger is expected to show some power with his bat.

Mark Reiter and Nick Stachokus are the top candidates for the centerfield job. Reiter, a freshman, will earn his time with his speed and ability to hit to all fields. Stachokus started 14 games for the Huskies last year. Charlie Reed and Mike Robertson will also get work here.

In right field, Bloomsburg has two players that saw a lot of action last season. Mike Fiorelli and Tim Kelleher both displayed capable bats. It is likely, though, that play in the field will have a greater impact on who gets the full-time nod.

Brian Sperling's left-handed bat has shown some pop in the past. He is also a tough strikeout. Last season, he fanned just twice in 53 plate appearances. Fiorelli or Guss may also get the call.

P.J. Vanni, the team's only senior, will act as backstop for the Huskies in 2001. Vanni has a good bat (.303-6-28 last season), but his defensive ability and handling of the pitching corps earns him the most praise from the coaching staff. Sperling and Aaron Wheeler can offer Vanni a spell when needed.

Two juniors, Matt Bennecoff and David Williams are the leading returning starters. Bennecoff registered four complete games last season and average better than a strikeout per inning. Williams and fellow lefthanders Matt Wiltrout, Mike Robertson, and Charlie Reed will be counted on to pitch quality innings.

Zach Hastie is a possible fourth starter. Mike Vavra came on strong at the end of last year and has a chance to be the closer for Bloomsburg this season. Robert Jewett added some weight and muscle and could give the team some strong innings.

The staff is being led by new assistant coach Chris Coombe, a former first-team All-American pitcher and minor leaguer. “Coombe has given our pitchers a sense of a 'bulldog' attitude,” said Haney. “He went after them hard and they will be in shape.”

Haney expects Shippensburg and Millersville to showcase strong pitching staffs. “I anticipate Mansfield and Kutztown will also be strong. Challenging [in the PSAC East] with a young team would be a remarkable feat for us,” said Haney. But we hope to be competitive in all the games this year.”