"We have a very young team so in a way we're kind of starting fresh," said Smith. "We do have some girls back who saw a good bit of time last year although some will be in new positions so we'll just have to take things a game at a time."

The four starters include sophomore Heather Clover who will move from the outfield to catcher.  Clover appeared in 14 games and compiled a .333 avg. with three doubles, one triple, and eight RBI's. Junior Steph Lutz appeared in 13 games in the outfield and batted .321 with five doubles, one triple, and 12 RBI's; junior Brianna Bennett hit for a .303 avg. in 15 games scored 13 runs and drew a team leading 11 walks.  Bennett will move from the outfield to second base this season. Sophomore Rachael Callen batted .281 in 13 games with two doubles, one triple, and 10 RBI's.  Callen will move from second base to first base this season. Junior Wendyl Haws appeared in just six games and batted .200 last season, but she will most likely take over one of the outfield positions.

"We are moving some people around from the outfield to the infield," said Smith. "A lot of them have played the infield before so the transition won't be much of a big deal. Moving Heather to catcher won't be a big change either as that's her normal position as she does the catching in the summer traveling league."

Besides those five girls the left side of the infield will most likely consist of sophomore Ashley Stewart at shortstop and freshman Jade Walker at third base. Besides Lutz and Haws in the outfield, the other position is still up in the air at this point according to Smith with several people vying for that spot.

Taking over on the mound will be freshman Krysta Fuller along with Stewart.

"We have a freshman pitcher in Krysta Fuller and a sophomore in Ashley Stewart so we are young and inexperienced, but we feel both pitchers bring us a lot of talent and we're hoping they can improve each time out and help us out a lot."

The Lady Lions have six girls back who saw limited action appearing in three games or less last season.  They include: juniors Sarah Wolbert and Sarah Lewis; sophomores Kara Visneski, Ali Edmonds, Kaitlyn Korchak, and Danielle Riley.

The total number of girls out for the team is down from 28 last season to 17 this season, but Smith feels that is a good thing and it makes things a little easier on everyone.

"Our numbers are down somewhat from last year, but I feel we have a more manageable number to work with this year,' said Smith. "We're able to give a little more individualized instruction so I'm kind of happy with where we are as far as the roster size."

As far as goals for the season Smith responded, "Our goals are to have the girls practice hard and work well together. We want to improve every game and if they keep working hard I feel they can do that. We are very young with no seniors so we realize that inexperience could take some time to gel on the field, but we feel these girls have all played softball at some level so they all have the capability to help us. We feel we can surprise some teams this season and hopefully by the end of the season we can make a run at the playoffs."

C-L lost four seniors in Sarah Hileman (.347 avg., 17 runs, three doubles, three triples, and 13 RBI's); Bri Shingledecker (.304 avg., 16 runs, one double, and seven RBI's); Jenna Johnston (.256 avg., one double, and 10 RBI's); and Heather Stewart (.250 avg., 12 runs, three doubles, one triple, one home run, and 11 RBI's). The Lady Lions also lost their top pitcher in Katie Reddinger who is a junior and decided not to return. She went 4-6 with a 2.64 ERA. She allowed 27 earned runs, 66 walks, and 83 strikeouts last season.

"We lost a lot of talent in those seniors and also Katie so now we have to move on and try and replace them," said Smith. "The girls on the team this year have a different attitude about things and they want to do well. They want to improve so hopefully that type of attitude will bring a winning mentality back to the team."

C-L is scheduled to open their season on Tuesday, April 1 at home against Redbank Valley .