Now, there will be plenty of opportunities for newcomers to roam venerable Jackie Robinson Memorial Field in Pasadena who might be able to help the Golden Knights (12-13, 4-8 in Mission League last season) qualify for the postseason for the first time since 2001.
Time will be of the essence for the Golden Knights, who will need no worse than a fourth-place finish in the wide-open Mission League to guarantee a trip to the postseason for the first time under the guidance of Coach Mike Solar.
"Things have pretty much shaped up for us the past few months," said Solar, whose team was eliminated from playoff contention during the final week of last season. "We are going to be super young, but talented.
"I don't know if we'll be as good as last year's team, but we have a surplus of depth at most positions and there will be some new players taking over starting jobs."
St. Francis will have one advantage it will hope to use throughout the season: The return of steady shortstop Christian Bergman, second baseman Joe DePinto and center fielder Evan Simonitsch to make the Golden Knights strong defensively up the middle.
Bergman, who was an all-league first-team selection last season, and DePinto combined to make just seven errors last season. Simonitsch, who had a league batting average of .455 last season, will generate plenty of speed in the outfield and on the base paths.
Bergman, who will attend UC Irvine in the fall, led the Golden Knights with 29 hits and made just one error last season. DePinto, an all-league second-team member, collected 27 hits and stole a team-high nine bases in 2005.
No team enters the season without question marks. Solar said the Golden Knights have several. Start at first base, where the starting job is open. The chief candidates to occupy first are seniors Johnny DeFazio and Taylor Smale and junior Luke Collis.
