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Just one season after going 25-6, including a 12-0 conference record and a Greater Thumb East championship; coach Aaron McCormack returns five letterwinners from a year ago for a team that enters the season ranked number nine in Division 3 in the MHSBCA pre-season poll.

All of the preseason hype aside, McCormack knows that in order for his team to repeat their success from a year ago they have to stay focused on the job that lies ahead of them.

We lost a lot of quality ball players, but we are returning some key players from last years championship team," McCormack said. "We also have some nice talent coming up Junior Varsity. I think we should be a quality team this year - a team built on a strong pitching staff and good team defense."

For Mayville, it all starts with their pitching. The Wildcats feature two of the area's best hurlers in seniors Justin Lugowski and Brett Beckett. Lugowski led the team a year ago with a 7-1 record and a 1.02 ERA. He was a First Team All-Conference GTE selection as a junior as both a pitcher and an outfielder.

"Justin is a dominating pitcher," McCormack said. "He is also strong at the plate. He was second on the team last year with a .400 batting average and led the team in hits (40), runs scored (33) and stolen bases (23).

"And, he was second on our team with 20 RBIs."

Beckett also earned First Team honors a season ago in the GTE after going 5-1 on the mound.

"Brett is a good all-around player," McCormack said. "He's a good hitter with a nice eye at the plate. He lead us in walks a year ago and will play multiple positions for us this season."

Other key returnees McCormack will be counting on include junior Corey Travis, who led the team in hitting with a .424 batting average as a sophomore. Travis set a Mayville school record in 2007 with an on-base percentage of .640.

Senior Matt Cook was hampered by injuries a season ago, but the second baseman will be counted on this year by McCormack to provide some stability in the infield.

Junior Dylan Schenk has some pretty big shoes to fill behind the plate. Schenk takes over this season as catcher from the graduated Adam Muncy, who a year ago earned All-State honors. McCormack expects Schenk to be one of the team's top hitters.

Other key newcomers for Mayville this season are Nate Richardson, Josh Franks and Gage Beckett.

Mayville next plays on April 10 when they welcome Laker High to town. The Wildcats begin the defense of their Greater Thumb East title on April 24, when they travel to Harbor Beach for a league doubleheader. Whether or not the team can repeat last season's success remains to be seen. But McCormack believes that his team will be just fine.

The Greater Thumb Conference is usually very competitive so it won't be easy to match what we did last year," McCormack said. "But I think if we stay healthy and determined we should do fine."

Andrew Selich is Sports Editor at The County Press. He can be reached at (810) 664-0811 ext. 8124 or andrew.selich@lapeergroup.com.