Coming off their first Georgetown Cup Championship in 13 years, the St. Francis High School baseball team will travel to Tampa Bay, Florida on April 9 th for a week of spring training to prepare for their title defense in 2007. Returning seven starters, the big question will be if the pitching staff can fill the void left when Andy Halbina, Ryan Ruszczyk and All Western New York player Greg Radwan graduated last year.

Coach Paul Bartell will be looking to returning All Western New York player Kevin Roth and fellow seniors Bob Waters and Erik Prentice to carry the load on the mound this year. "All three are solid. They just didn't see much time last year because of the strength of the senior pitchers," noted Bartell.

Look for returning senior captain All Catholics Vinny Scarsella (shortstop) and

Mark Majka (catcher) to lead the way in the field and at the plate. Both are three year varsity players and were instrumental in the Raiders' championship run in 2006. Fellow All Catholic selection Brian Haas and Roth will anchor the outfield and are expected to major offensive contributors.

Coach Bartell is also looking for big things from junior Jon Van Remmen and senior Chris Hoak. "Both Van Remmen and Hoak are versatile. Both can play infield and outfield and will probably be asked to pitch as well. These two guys may be the keys to our team making another run this year," he noted.

While in Tampa Bay, they will practice and play scrimmage games from April 9-16. St. Francis will take on Bay area schools Bishop McLaughlin (4/11, 10:30 AM), Tampa Prep (4/13, 7 PM), St. Stephen's (4/14, 2 PM) and Gaither High School (4/15, TBD) during their trip. "This trip provides us with not only the opportunity to play a tremendous amount of baseball but gives the players a chance to gel and bond as a team." remarked Bartell. "To me, team chemistry cannot be underestimated in the success of a season. It was huge factor in last year's championship and this trip is where much of that comes together."