Colts Happy to Open New Baseball Season

Baseball season is once again upon us, and that’s a good thing for Chartiers Valley.

The Colts varsity baseball team missed the playoffs in 2010 and endured losing streaks of five and three games throughout the tumultuous campaign, just one year removed from appearances in the WPIAL and PIAA championship games.

Coach Jim Jaskowski won’t make excuses for the sub-par season, but it’s hard to ignore the turnover last year’s team faced.

“We lost eight starters and our top five pitchers,” Jaskowski said. “The guys responded well, though. Everyone knew we were rebuilding, even going into last season. A lot of people want to get to the finish line, but now we know the journey of how to get there.”

Those hardships from last season may have taught the players a valuable lesson in the daily grinds it takes to be a great team, Jaskowski said. That lesson is something he hopes his players can use this season, as they compete in a notoriously difficult Section 3-AAA.

It’s been a story of two different games to start the season for the Colts, however, as Chartiers Valley put up 11 runs in an impressive victory over Fox Chapel in the season-opener last week, but then surrendered 12 runs Tuesday in a lopsided loss to Class AAAA power Mt. Lebanon.

Jaskowski and his players know they won’t win very many games giving up double-digit runs.

“I think our formula over the years has been, if you pitch and play defense, you will be in every game,” he said. “We also run the bases well. So those three things will keep us in every game.”

Chartiers Valley is back in action today as it travels to Bethel Park to play the Blackhawks after Wednesday’s game against West Allegheny was postponed. The Colts will return home Friday to face the Moon Tigers if weather permits.