Four for 2011 (Part 1)

It's that time of year again.

Nearly a month ago, state baseball champions were crowned at Blair County Ballpark in Altoona and the annual All-Sentinel team has been selected with a publish date of July 13.

Before our selections are announced, let's look ahead to next year at the four teams we think have a shot to make some noise when the District 3 playoffs roll around in May of 2011. Remember, these aren't the teams we think will have sparkling regular-season records but rather the clubs we feel are poised to go far in the postseason.

East Pennsboro (12-10 in 2010; District 3-AAA quarterfinalist)

The Panthers return nearly everyone from the team that made arguably the most surprising run of the district playoffs two months ago.

Coach John Frantz, who will enter his third year in Enola with a record of 21-20, welcomes back Zach Nye (3-1 record, 1.13 ERA), Alex Card (4-0, 2.88) and Brandon Lehman (2-2, 8.13) to anchor what should be a very solid rotation.

Lehman's numbers aren't great but one of his wins was against Lampeter-Strasburg in the District 3-AAA first round when he went five competitive innings and allowed only one earned run. Card (above), who beat perennial Colonial Division power Waynesboro and baffled Manheim Central in the 3-AAA play-in round, started the season on junior varsity and should only improve in his sophomore year.

The bad news is that Max Miller and Matt Porter will be lost to graduation. Miller led the team with a .413 batting average and Porter was second on the team at .359.

The top returnee in terms of batting average is Gregg Wasikowski, who hit .357 with 14 RBIs in 2010.

Due to the Mid-Penn's realignment, East Penn will no longer play Northern or Waynesboro and falls into a division that it should win. Other members include Boiling Springs, Camp Hill, Milton Hershey, Steel-High, Susquenita, Trinity and West Perry.

Camp Hill (9-15 in 2010; District 3-A runner-up and PIAA quarterfinalist)

L.K. Thompson is gone but the Lions don't face nearly the uphill battle that they encountered in 2010 after needing to replace nine starters from the teams that won back-to-back PIAA championships.

Chad Bronson, Kevin Chrencik, Ben Eppley and Cameron Resuta are just a few of the youngsters that will carry Camp Hill over the next few years. Coach Brad Shover, who just completed his 10th year as head coach, also spoke highly of another crop of talented players who will join the varsity ranks within the next year or two.

Berks Christian, which dethroned Camp Hill in the 3-A final this year, loses stud pitcher Cody Albright and that will likely make Camp Hill the favorite to capture the title next year.

As always, the schedule will be full of challenges but when the postseason rolls around, Camp Hill will prove that it deserves to be mentioned among the state's small-school elite.