The Eastern baseball team has been picked to finish seventh in the Ohio Valley Conference Preseason Poll heading into the season.

The Panthers will be returning one of the best hitters in college baseball from last season in Caleb Howell.

Howell hit .420 last season and was third in batting average throughout the entire NCAA.

Senior infielder Dane Sauer said Howell is by far the best pure hitter he has ever played with.

“He is going to be great for us,” he said. “I have no doubt in my mind. He’s one of the kids who just knows how to hit and learns what the opposing pitchers are doing to get him out and he tends to outsmart them. He is going to be real fun to watch this season.

Coach Jim Schmitz said Howell’s greatest attribute is that he plays the same if he is 4-for-4 or if he is 0-for-4.

“We have him in the leadoff spot for a reason,” he said. “He’s coming up all the time. You just love that the rotation of the lineup rolls over and there he is again”

The Panthers return many veterans this season, including Howell and Sauer.

Sauer said there are a lot of seniors that can bring a lot of leadership to the table this season.

“I think that is something we got going well for us,” he said. “We have a good core group of seniors who have been through this a few times before hand. Obviously, Caleb and Brant returning are a huge deal. They are three-year starters and have done real well and had success at this level. There are a lot of veterans on this team that can show the younger guys a lot of things.”

Schmitz said he is making some changes to his team heading into the season.

On defense, junior Mitch Gasbarro, who played second last season, is going to play shortstop for the upcoming year. Freshman Joe Duncan will be in centerfield. Senior  John Devito and freshman Hunter Morris will be battling for a starting spot at catcher.

“We are trying to get our best team on the field,” he said. “I just think those first 8-to-10 games we are going to play through things. We have experienced guys that have been through the OVC and any coach kind of feels good about that.”

Howell will now be playing first base, after three seasons in the outfield.  He said the transition from the outfield to first base has been OK thus far.

“It’s a tough transition from the outfield,” he said. “I’ve had some experience at first in high school, so it’s not as tough of transition.”

The Panthers lost three of their key pitchers last season, including Matt Borens, who was drafted in the 11^th round by the New York Yankees, Joe Greenfield and Troy Barton.

Trying to replace those pitchers will be a tough task, but Schmitz has a plan to do so.

Schmitz said the Panthers added a good amount of freshman pitchers to the roster this season, including Andy Fisher, Ben Hughes, A.J. Diepholz and Luke Dietz.

Red-shirt senior Christian Slazinik, junior Jake Johansmeier and senior Garrison Stenger are three other pitchers that Schmitz is excited about.

“We got three guys that have been doing this for a long time in the OVC,” he said. “You have to have to have talent, but you want to have experience.”

Valach and Howell were named to the Preseason All-OVC for this upcoming season and Valach said he is excited about his team this year.

“We have a lineup that will produce runs, one through nine, and we have a pitching staff that has great veteran leadership backed by some younger guys that will more than give us a chance to win,” he said. “This is a team with a lot of veterans and that leadership will play into our benefit through the year.”

The Panthers will get their season underway on Friday in Athens, Ga. against the University of Georgia.

Bob Reynolds can be reached at 581-2812 or rjreynolds@eiu.edu.