The La Salle-Peru baseball team’s 2024 roster is made up of players who have a combined 401 varsity games under their belt.

The Cavaliers have made 1,078 varsity plate appearances and have pitched 159 varsity innings.

“Of our 19 guys, almost all of them have some varsity experience,” L-P coach Matt Glupczynski said. “We feel that we are a veteran team. A lot of these seniors have been with me since they were freshmen. They’ve gone through a varsity schedule for three years. They’ve been in the regional setting. We haven’t done as well as we had hoped, but going through that year after year provides great experience. They’re battle tested, and they’re really excited to get going with the season.”

Pitching depth is expected to be a strength for the Cavaliers, who went 12-18 last season, as they have 10 or more players who could take the mound.

Senior Brendan Boudreau went 6-2 with a 1.40 ERA last season.

Seniors Nolan Van Duzer, Brandon Foreman, Josh Senica, Jack Jereb and Alex Galindo and juniors Adrian Arzola, Brady Backes, Rock Radtke, Justus Byrd, Brevyn Vogel and Jackson Piecha also will take the mound.

Senica and Galindo have returned to the program after taking junior year off from baseball, while Foreman is back after missing most of last season with an injury.

Glupczynski said the pitching depth is important with the Interstate 8 Conference going back to three-game series this season.

“Obviously, we need a ton of pitching to be able to compete for conference series, then on weekends we’ll have one or two varsity games,” Glupczynski said. “If we’re able to get four or five games in, we’re definitely going to need the pitching depth, and I definitely feel we have that. We have guys we can put out there who we really trust to go out and compete and give us a shot to win every single day.”

Senior Seth Adams will catch the pitching staff as he returns for his fourth varsity season. Vogel also may see time behind the plate.

Van Duzer, Senica and junior Kyle Rios will play first base, Piecha, senior Aieden Wenskunas and junior Kaedin Bond will see time at second base, Jereb will handle shortstop duties with Bond backing him up, Boudreau, Foreman and junior Jacob Gross will contribute at third base while Boudreau, Galindo, Arzola, Vogel and senior Brady Romagnoli will play in the outfield.

“Early, we’ve looked really good,” Glupczynski said. “The guys know what to do in bunt and other situations. We talk every single day about pitching and defense are what’s going to help us win games and get us where we want to be at the end of the year.”

Offensively, Romagnoli, Adams, Vogel, Arzola and Jereb are players with speed who can bunt and hit for contact who will hit at the top or bottom of the lineup, while Van Duzer, Gross, Boudreau, Senica and Bond will provide pop in the middle of the order.

“I expect us to be well-rounded,” Glupczynski said. “I expect us to be able to hit the ball with some pop, but the pitching we see day in and day out is really tough, so we’re going to have to be able to bunt for hits, sac bunt, steal bases, hit and run and all those sorts of things to be a complete offense.”

With a veteran roster, Glupczynski said he looks for the Cavs to compete for conference and regional titles and win more than 20 games.

L-P is looking for its first regional title since 2013 and its first 20-win season since 2014.

“I know their expectations are going to be high,” Glupczynski said. “I think they’re ready to go out and compete and see where they’re at, where they need to improve and where they’re solid.”