Pilgrim had one of the best pitching staffs in the state last season with seniors Elijah Dressel, Michael Broccoli and Chris Duchesneau as its top three starters.

Fast forward a year later, and the Pats are looking to fill the giant voids left by that trio of quality arms.

That doesn’t seem to be a worry in the mind of Pilgrim head coach Scott Bailey, though, as he believes pitching will be a strength once again this spring.

“Pitching is still our strength,” Bailey said. “We have kids who have been in the program for three years now – they know what to expect from us and we know what to expect from them. They’ve looked good so far this spring. Our pitchers are throwing strikes and pitching to contact, so they’ve been very effective.”

The projected rotation for this season will consist of seniors Dan Reph, Bobby Garceau and Darren Grant, while Alec Bloomingburgh, a junior, will also be one of the Pats’ top options on the mound.

“It’s a game-by-game situation,” Bailey said. “We may have to use all of them in one game. It’s basically one day at a time. We have a little bit of depth.”

As for position players, Bailey will look for his four returning starters to really elevate their level of play.

“I’m going to rely heavily on guys like David McMullen, Tyler Perry, Matt Woods, Anthony Russo,” Bailey said.

Perry will return as the team’s starting shortstop. He had a tremendous season in the field in 2015, earning the Gold Glove Award in Division I as the top defensive performer in the state’s top league.

Joining Perry in the middle infield will be Woods, who will move to second base as a sophomore after seeing time in the outfield and at third as a freshman. Russo will return as the team’s starter at the hot corner, while there are battles going on at first and behind the plate.

At first base, Bailey expects a number of different players to occupy that position based on who’s pitching, namely Bloomingburgh, Sean Blanchard and Garceau.

Behind the plate, a battle is going on between junior Mitch Fielding and sophomore Ryan Maintain.

Whoever wins that battle will have sizable shoes to fill.

Senior catcher Evan Broccoli was one of the best backstops in the state last season, both offensively and defensively.

He did a masterful job in managing the pitching staff and displayed a great work ethic.

That’s one player who won’t be easy to replace.

“It was offensively and defensively, he was a team leader,” Bailey said of Evan Broccoli. “Kids followed him by example, he worked hard. Sometimes he would be here at school hitting off a tee at 6:30 a.m.”

In the outfield, Blanchard, a sophomore, is also expected to play some left field, while McMullen will anchor the Pats’ outfield in center.

“David is terrific defensively in center,” Bailey said.

Rounding out the outfield in right will be a combination of seniors Cameron Small and Brian Laplume, again, depending on who’s on the bump.

Even with expectations being high, there are definitely some question marks surrounding Pilgrim. It lost nine seniors from last year’s roster, most of whom were key contributors to the success the team encountered in 2015.

“We graduated a lot of kids and we need other guys to step up,” Bailey said. “We’re definitely going into this season with a lack of experience at the varsity level.”

Pilgrim was set to play at Hendricken on Wednesday, but the game was postponed due to the snow. It’s unclear when that game will be played, but following the opener against the Hawks, Pilgrim will then play three games at home.

“We don’t have the best playing conditions, but we like playing here,” Bailey said of his home field. “The kids can just walk out of school onto the field and take batting practice. We see that sometimes it’s a difficult place for teams to come play.”

The Pats will be looking to build off of a 9-9 season in Division I-A last spring.