Coming off a 3-17 season, Catasauqua head baseball coach Steve Bradley could be expected to take a cautious approach to this season.

But the veteran skipper liked what he saw after his team’s scrimmage against Tamaqua.

“I thought we looked good,” beamed Bradley. “We only had two days of practice outside, so we didn’t know what to expect. We did a lot of good things. We played our varsity for most of the scrimmage, and then we got our JV kids in the last few innings.”

Bradley cited the performances of Alex Bolmer, Joey Conway, Steel Martell, Reece Lopez, and Reece Savercool. Conway had a pair of doubles and four RBIs.

“Conway had a good day with his bat, and he pitched well,” noted Bradley. “Lopez had a nice rip, and Bolmer and Savercool threw well. Our pitchers worked out of some jams, and our defense was pretty good.”

Bradley will look to Lopez (.245) at shortstop and fellow seniors Luis Collazo (.244) and Gavin Hacker (.206) in the outfield.

Bolmer, a junior, went 2-6 last season with a 4.07 ERA and 36 strikeouts in 41 innings. Conway, a sophomore who will also catch (.256), went 1-1 over 10.2 innings, and Lopez was 0-4 over 23.2 innings. Savercool, a junior, will also be in the rotation.

Bradley will also look to returning starters Martell, a junior, (.200) at DH, junior Asael Gonzalez (.286) at third, junior Chase Jarrah in the outfield, and sophomore Cody Roth (.283) at second base. Senior Evan Reed is back after a season-ending injury from wrestling last year, and he will be behind the plate.

Bradley will be leaning on his senior class. The Rough Riders have 23 players between their JV and varsity players.

“Our seniors have been doing a great job,” said Bradley. “It was great to see Evan Reed come back, and he has been awesome. The kids have had a great attitude.”

Bradley is keeping his expectations high.

“The team worked hard in the offseason,” stressed Bradley. “We are eager to get started.”