The first year after an ace was not smooth for the Watkins Memorial baseball team.

Without Justin Warrington, now with Ball State University, who followed Eric Arnett, now in the Milwaukee Brewers farm system to the No. 1 spot in the rotation, the Warriors struggled to win consistently.

"That is why the game starts with the pitcher," Watkins coach Donald Schone said. "We preach to get on top of the hitters. In many of the games when we reflect back, we didn't do that. We got behind hitters, walked some guys and then all of a sudden, they have a big inning. We would maybe score one or two, but we could not keep up with it."

The Warriors open 2010 with a visit from Newark on March 30, and they host Lakewood the next day. Senior Taylor Day and junior Eric Robinson will be asked to lead the staff.

Day was instrumental in helping the Warriors to an Ohio Capital Conference-Capital Division title in 2008, but he had a rough time against the top OCC competition. Robinson particularly stood out in stints against Pickerington Central and Mount Vernon. He then had key victories during the summer for Pickerington Post 283.

It will not just fall on those two pairs of shoulders, however. Others likely to receive varsity innings are senior John Parrett, junior Chris Skaggs and sophomore Reno Reda.

"It is always nice to have a thoroughbred you can ride for a while, but it is the other games when you need quality starts from other guys that often people overlook," Schone said.

The Watkins offense will have to come from the seniors. Parrett, who likely will play on the corners and has prodigious power, and catcher Matt Connor were all-OCC selections last year. Senior Joey Bales and junior D.J. Collins will be solid for the Warriors up the middle, and juniors Bryce Phillips and Gage Marek have the potential to contribute in a rebuilt outfield.

Who the Warriors will not have are their ignitors. Watkins will have to replace the graduated Sean Fannin and Mike Shroyer from the top of the lineup. Do not expect the Warriors to quit bunting and running, though.

"We will have to be a little creative with what we do," Schone said. "We do have some big boys that can swing the sticks and hit the ball, but when they start seeing a little bit of off-speed pitching, we will see how things happen."

The season is one of the shortest, but with four or five games each week, Schone will not hesitate to mix and match. The Warriors have more than 25 freshmen and sophomores total, and Schone will not keep all of them on the two reserve teams.

Young players have played prominent roles before on some of the Warriors' most successful teams.

"There a lot of good young talented kids that I could see pushing the older kids because they want to play," Schone said. "They want to make an impact, so we have a very good group from top to bottom."

WEBER HONORED

Watkins assistant coach Chris Weber was named the Central District assistant coach of the year during the winter. Weber was honored at the state's coaches convention.