As the Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp prepare for their home-opener on Wednesday night in Peru, they do so with a younger roster and the familiar question of pitching depth shaping the start of a new summer season.

The Pistol Shrimp officially opened their season on the road Tuesday night against the Clinton Lumberjacks before returning to Schweickert Stadium on Wednesday for a two-game set against the Quincy Dog Paddlers.

After falling just short of the playoffs last year and finishing 31-23, this year’s team will be significantly younger, with 10 incoming college freshmen getting their first taste of the next level.

From owner and manager John Jakiemiec’s perspective, that opportunity presents about as many pleasures as it does challenges heading into the new season.

“Honestly, I’m looking forward to it. I think the younger guys are going to end up being significant contributors for us by the end of the season,” he said. “There’s real value in them coming into this environment and facing players who are bigger, faster and stronger than what they’re used to. That’s how they grow as players at the next level.”

Although the staff enjoys the process of developing younger players, one of the challenges with it is that the incoming freshmen will not be with the team to start the summer as they wrap up their high school seasons. And from the organization’s perspective, the younger player’s adjustment period extends beyond the field.

General manager June Keeley said younger players, especially those fresh out of high school, often need time to settle into a new environment and adjust to spending the summer away from home with host families.

“There’s a little bit of an icebreaker that needs to happen,” Keeley said. “For some of the younger guys that haven’t even been away to college yet, they’re showing up in a different area they’re not familiar with and staying with a host family who they don’t know much about. But they settle in really quickly and the bonds that form are really amazing.”

While there’s a lot of confidence from the coaching staff in the team’s ability to produce runs, the depth of the pitching staff remains a question mark as it does for many Prospect League teams from year to year.

“I don’t think the question for us is going to be whether we can hit. We’ve traditionally been a pretty good offensive team here, and I don’t see that changing with this group,” Jakiemiec said. “Pitching is always the biggest question mark in this league, and from my experience, it’s usually what determines how far teams go.“

While Jakiemiec admits there isn’t a lot of experience overall in the pitching staff, he sees the potential there and remains optimistic that with more experience, the group can settle in and become a strength of the team.

“I think we’ve got some real upside on the mound, but like most summer teams, the reality is we’re going to have a lot of guys who have talent but haven’t thrown a lot of innings yet,” he said. “It will be more about development, getting them experience to start and just seeing how they respond over the course of the season.”

Specifically, Jakiemiec pointed to the addition of Japanese pitchers and brothers Takeru and Yamato Onozaki.

While they stand out naturally as international additions and identical twins, they bring a different repertoire to the mound Jakiemiec believes could fit well in the Prospect League.

“They’re certainly one of the more interesting additions we made this off-season,” Jakiemiec said. “They’re not new to this level of competition, as they’ve played junior college ball in the U.S., but they bring a different style of pitching with a lot of breaking balls and splitters.

“If they can give us consistent innings, I think they could be a big part of the success we have.”

While the team prepares for opening day on the field, there’s a lot of work happening behind the scenes from the team’s staff and interns.

From organizing host families and preparing concessions to setting up signage and merchandise, Keeley said the week leading into opening day is always one of the busiest stretches of the summer for the team’s staff.

“There’s a lot that goes into getting everything ready that people probably don’t realize,” Keeley said. “We spend a lot of time getting everything moved over to the stadium, unpacked and organized. It’s a long week, but it’s rewarding and exciting once opening night gets here.”

While questions remain about how this younger roster will develop, Jakiemiec said the early indications from his staff is that the team is gelling well together and that alone could go a long way.

“Chemistry has never really been an issue for us, and I don’t expect it to be this year either,” he said. “Even in this short time, it looks like a good group.”

“When my coaching staff comes back and tells me they like the energy, they like the competitiveness, and guys want to get after it- that’s usually a pretty good sign for how they’ll grow as a team and ultimately how the season is going to go.”

If interested in coming out to the ballpark this year, fans can find the team’s full promotional schedule, specialty theme nights and merchandise on the team website.