As the temperatures continue to hover around the freezing mark it’s never too early to think Spring, and for sports fans the reason to count the days until the sunny season arrives involves a bat and ball.

Over the past few months we’ve heard a lot about two of the three teams a majority of the students follow. The Chicago Cubs went out traded for a power-hitting first baseman, signed a solid setup man and sharpened their bench. The Cubs National League Central rival, the St. Louis Cardinals, bolstered their pitching staff by trading away a pair of veterans and hope to have their all-star third baseman healthy for the entire year.

But what about the other baseball team students follow. The one with home games about a half mile from where all the students live and the best part is we don’t have to pay a dime to go see them play. That’s right, overlooked by all of the major league baseball off-season excitement is the fact our Eastern team will hit the diamond with high hopes in a few short weeks.

Students may not remember just how heartbreaking last season ended for Jimmy Schmitz and Co. because most Panthers were long gone from Charleston when the final Eastern out was made on May 23.

Eastern entered the Ohio Valley Conference in Paducah, Ky., as the sixth seed but immediately made their presence felt by overcoming an 8-0 deficit to beat top seeded Austin Peay 12-11. The Panthers then came up with another upset a day later downing third-seeding Tennessee Tech, but the luck ran out as Eastern fell to Eastern Kentucky and Murray State on May 23.

The loss against the Racers was extremely tough as Eastern came from behind in the ninth inning down three runs only to lose by a score of 6-4 in a marathon 13-inning contest.

Tough way to end a season, but even tougher was the loss of nine seniors including catcher/designated hitter Bret Pignatiello, outfielders Danny Jordan and Kirk Walters and pitchers Damon White, Matt Tyson and Nate Stone.

While the Panthers will miss the heavy bats of Pignatiello and Walters and the innings eaten up by White and Tyson, Eastern shouldn’t be taken lightly this season.

For starters the Panthers have a solid defense in the infield with Kyle Haines and Jeff Cammann back for their senior seasons. The fiery Haines is the returning leader in slugging percentage, bases on balls, home runs and runs batted in for the Panthers, almost unheard of for a shortstop.

Cammann may not be the most graceful fielder but he definitely gets the job done at the “hot corner.” Fans may remember diving stop after diving stop turned in by the Idaho native against Eastern Kentucky in a three-game home series last April, and the Panthers will expect more of the same this year.

Former second baseman Chris Uhle will move to the designated hitter position to replace Pignatiello, and what Eastern will lose in power they will certainly gain in speed and batting average. Statistically speaking, Uhle has converted his last 20 stolen base attempts and is the returning leader in total bases, doubles and triples for Eastern.

On the mound, besides incumbent ace Jarad Marshall (34 wins over the last three seasons) Eastern will be young but certainly not lacking potential.

A big key for Eastern will be sophomore righty Mike Budde. The Providence Catholic graduate moved back and fourth from the bullpen to starter last season before finally sticking in the rotation. In 18 appearances Budde posted a 1-4 record with a 8.44 earned run average, but showed signs of dominance in a 11-1 victory over Eastern Kentucky that saw him go the distance giving up just four hits and one run.

If that Mike Budde shows up Eastern will be set with a reliable one-two punch at the top of their staff. Not to mention, Budde won’t have any big game jitters as he’s pitched in his fair share of important contest in high school with Providence among the best in the Chicago Catholic League.

Lanky lefty Jason Pinnell has the potential to shine in relief if he can cut down on his walks and sophomore Alex Chapple should improve with more work.

The Eastern baseball team certainly has a promising outlook. If certain pieces fall into place this year the passion and elation won’t be limited to Wrigleyville and Busch Stadium.