There are plenty of players returning for the area baseball teams this season, which should help make for another successful season overall.

It’s been a few years since any local team has advanced to the state tourney, but this could be the year when that changes. Many teams have high hopes for the upcoming year.

Here’s a look at the area baseball teams this season.

Central

The Falcons have a strong returning core led by senior Isaac Barb, junior Austin Hosaflook and sophomores Nathan Snyder and Blake Kniceley.

Central head baseball coach Mike Bocock said he is excited for the upcoming season and the preseason has gone well.

“I am 68 years old and I still get excited about this game,” Bocock said. “This preseason could have not gone any better. We have been getting after it in the offseason and that work has translated over the past two weeks. We are a solid ball club with a core of guys who are starting to become the epitome of what we preach, which is hard work, grit and hustle.”

Central also has a couple key newcomers — freshman Jaxson Kelican and junior Noah Moss — who are expected to have big roles.

Central starts its season by hosting Riverheads on Tuesday.

“Our expectations for this season are no different than any season I have ever had, in the Valley League or in high school baseball,” Bocock said. “We expect to play hard, be scrappy and execute. We are going to hustle in everything we do and hope that hard work and hustle translates to wins. Most importantly, we want to be winning at the right time, and then see what we can do, the sky's the limit with this group. We are very excited for this season.”

Sherando

The Warriors also have a lot coming back this season. They will be led by returning seniors Dylan Frazier, Tucker Lafever, Hayden Lafever, Judson Dean, Isaiah Doedan, Gavin McKelvey and Sam Ridings and juniors Dean Lamb, Nick Usa and Aaron DeHaven.

Sherando baseball coach Craig Bodenschatz said he liked what he saw in the preseason from his squad.

“The team is working hard this spring,” Bodenschatz said. “Our seniors are doing a good job of setting the tone for how we want to work in practice. The younger players are picking that up quickly.”

Sherando has a lot of key newcomers to the team this season led by juniors Asher Morrow, Brayden Phillips, Zac Thomas, Braylon Clark, Leland McIntyre and freshman Evan Combs.

Sherando opens its season by hosting Strasburg on Tuesday.

Bodenschatz said he wants his team to be competitive throughout the season.

“We hope to compete each night and play sound, aggressive baseball,” Bodenschatz said. “We want to improve throughout the season and be playing our best baseball at playoff time. The district will be strong again, and we want to be in the mix at the top. We return more experience on the mound this year than last so we are hoping that will keep us in games early. We're relatively inexperienced in the infield defensively, so that is an area we are working hard on in practice but may take some time to develop in games.”

Skyline

The Hawks were just one game short of a state berth last season and lost a lot of talent to graduation. However, Skyline still has high hopes for the season.

Skyline has several key returners led by Izaiah Matthews, Cameron Kerns, Kaiden Brown, Mark Jeffries and Cole Hensley.

Skyline head baseball coach Tyler Settle said he’s been pleased with what he's seen from his players in the preseason.

“We returned a core group of players with experience at the varsity level,” Settle said. “Right now, we are trying to mesh the new players with the veterans while figuring out where we are going to play everyone to make sure we have the best nine guys in the lineup. We have multiple kids that can play multiple positions. So right now it is a feel it out process until they show what kind of level they can perform at on game day. The more time we get together, the more that chemistry will grow. How much that grows will be an important factor in determining how good we can be. Cameron Kerns and Izaiah Matthews are doing a great job taking a leadership role and making sure everything is being done with the right intensity and focus. They both have experience getting to that game where you play a one-game series for a state berth and both know what practice needs to look like in order to get there. There is a lot of talent and baseball experience in our locker room, but as of now we are the unknown until we go show what we can do on game day. The majority of the new guys have been grooming on JV for two, three years now and are also the guys that do not miss offseason workouts. So I am excited to see how it plays out.”

Settle said his key newcomers are Joey Pendleton, Tristan Davis, Kaleb Matthews, Brody Boyd, Gavin Wilson, McKinley Tolliver and Carl Schmitt.

Skyline opens its season on Monday at James Wood.

“The ultimate goal is to get back and get another chance at the one-game series to have a chance to go to state,” Settle said. “Anything can happen if you make it there. We have created a winning culture which means our expectations will always be high. So even with losing five great players and starters, we are focusing on reloading and not having to rebuild again. I think that is something that every good program figures out how to find a way through. We have some pieces, the boys are bought in, and we are looking forward to seeing it all mesh together. One of the stronger assets for us will be our pitching staff. There will be some new faces in it, but they are talented. Izaiah and Cameron will lead the staff with Mark Jeffries, Kaiden Brown, and Cole Hensley also proving they can be valuable for us throughout the fall. Mastering the little things will be important for us. Throwing strikes, putting balls in play, playing quality defense, being aggressively smart baserunners, and playing some small ball are some of the things at the top of that list. Again, right now we are the unknown, so it is hard to give a prediction, because we have guys that still need to prove themselves at the varsity level. We will definitely be battle tested throughout our schedule, but we are confident in what we can do if we can get it all meshed together, and we are looking forward to competing.”

Stonewall Jackson

The Generals have a strong nucleus of returning players, which should help them put together a solid season.

The Generals are led by returners Seth Moomaw, Ayden Reynard and Caleb Eaton.

“I appreciate all the hustle I am seeing from the team and they are playing as a team, which is critical to have early in the season when you may not be as crisp as you’d like to be,” Stonewall Jackson head baseball coach Zach Cover said.

The Generals have also added key newcomers Jacob Gwin and Carter Heishman this season.

Stonewall Jackson hosts Harrisonburg on Monday in the season opener.

“I look for the team to be competitive all season and play good fundamental baseball,” Cover said.

Strasburg

The Rams have plenty of returners from last year’s solid squad and plenty of reasons for high hopes under first-year coach Eric Highstreet.

Leading the returners are juniors Ryan Reynolds, Aiden Adkins, Jacob Britton, Harper Sherman and Brady Flynn.

“We’ve had some good practices so far this spring,” Highstreet said. “The boys are working hard while pushing through their early season sore arms.”

Two of the top newcomers are sophomores Gavin Dellinger and Jaxon Highstreet. Both were on last year’s JV Bull Run District championship team.

“We are very fortunate to have some really talented players in our program,” Highstreet said. “Our success this season will depend on how quickly we adapt to playing for each other and put the team first. We are two-to-three players deep at every position, which will make our players have to compete and execute on a daily basis. I like the fact that we are playing traditionally strong baseball schools like Sherando and James Wood in the first month to really see what we are made of as a team.”

Strasburg opens its season at Sherando on Tuesday.

Eric Highstreet, who was an assistant coach last year, said that being the head coach has been nice and he’s looking forward to the upcoming year.

“Coming from Southern California, I’ve been fortunate to coach some really successful players who have been drafted as well as playing collegiately across the country,” Highstreet said. “I see some of those similar traits in our players here at Strasburg. Now I’d like to see if they are mentally strong enough to push themselves to a level of greatness on and off the field.”

Warren County

The Wildcats had a solid season last year and are looking to build off of that this season.

Warren County returns a strong group led by Adam Andlinger, Seb France, Gavin Dodson, Dillon Lord, Travis Silva, Landon Shell, Tyler Dolan, Gavin Hetrick, Alex Kenney and Logan Patton.

Warren County head baseball coach Jesse Henry said it’s been a solid preseason for his team.

“The coaching staff has been really pleased with the turnout in the offseason and the work ethic that they have been bringing every day,” Henry said.

Some key newcomers for Warren County this season will be Jayden Christopher, Frannie Shaffer, Blake Hose and David Otenyoh.

Warren County opens its season on Monday at Handley.

“Our outlook and expectations will remain the same this year,” Henry said. “Our expectations are that our guys will go out and compete on each and every pitch. If we play the game hard, the right way, and with grit we will be competitive every game.”