Newbury Park Panthers

Head coach: Scott Drootin (4th season)
Last season's results: 21-8, 13-1 in league
(Marmonte champions)
Biggest losses: Cody Fierro, OF/P; Josh
Baker, OF; Jordan LaSecla, P; Brett Fick, SS/C
Notable returnees: Andrew Lambo, 1B/P; Jack Marder, 2B; Anthony
Montenegro, P/INF; Jason Andersen, CF; Stuart Krock, P
Impact newcomer: Mike Schwartz, senior, 3B/C
Pitching ace: Andrew Lambo
Biggest bat: Andrew Lambo

Overview: Newbury Park is much more than just Andrew Lambo and eight other guys on the field. Although Lambo's skills are undeniable- he was recently ranked 35th on Baseball America's list of the nation's best senior prospects- there is plenty of other firepower in the Panther lineup.

Senior Mike Schwartz, a transfer from Santa Monica who plays third base, catcher and pitcher, has bigtime power and will help fill the middleoftheorder void left by the graduation of Cody Fierro, the program's alltime leader in home runs.

With Lambo leading off and sophomore second baseman Jack Marder hitting second, Schwartz could develop into an RBI machine for NPHS.

Marder, a .344 hitter as a freshman, forms an outstanding double-play combination with shortstop Brad Greve. Greve will hit ninth to help protect Lambo. Schwartz and Jake Schumacher will rotate at third base. Anthony Montenegro starts at first when Lambo pitches or plays in the outfield.

Jason Andersen returns to patrol center field. Andersen finished second on the team with a .417 batting average last season. The corner outfield spots remain up for grabs, with Ryan Frank, Ben Cohen, Nick Nardoni, Ian Long, T.J. Scott and Schumacher all competing for a starting job.

Lambo is the pitching ace, but somebody has to step up and take control of the No. 2 spot in the rotation. Stuart Krock has great stuff, but he's been inconsistent. Troy Williams is a hard-throwing right-hander.

If there's one player to watch, it's 5-foot-4, 107-pound freshman Jimmy Sherfy. He might be undersized and inexperienced, but Sherfy throws strikes and keeps the ball down in the zone.

Head coach Scott Drootin says: "If our No. 2 pitcher can come in and throw strikes, we're going to fit right in with the top three teams in the league."