When a baseball team loses its best pitcher and its best hitter, the immediate future can’t look too bright.

The 1998 GW baseball team hopes it will be able to fill the shoes of Matt Williams and Troy Allen, the ace pitcher and leading power hitter from last year’s squad.

“Losing them means some of the younger players are going to have to step up for us,” GW head coach Tom Walter said of his team, which has just two seniors on its roster. “I think some of the freshmen and some of our upperclassmen can fill the void.”

A young pitching staff will have to cope with the loss of Williams, who transferred to George Mason after the 1997 season. He posted the Atlantic 10’s fifth best earned run average and went 7-5 for a GW team that went 21-33 overall and 9-12 in the A-10.

The top returning hurlers for the Colonials are sophomore right-hander Ron Christie, junior right-hander Ari Zagaris and junior left-hander Tom Baginski, who posted a 4.44 ERA in 21 appearances last season.

In addition, five freshmen all will pitch in some capacity for GW this season. Walter says left-hander Adam Belicic and right-hander Bryan Beggs could work their way into the starting rotation as soon as the upcoming series with the College of William & Mary.

“We definitely lack experience, but the young players will be able to adjust, I think,” Walter said. “After a month, our young guys aren’t going to be young any more.”

While the pitching staff is quite young and inexperienced, the infield is not. Junior second baseman Mike Roberts, junior first baseman Joe Beichert and sophomore shortstop Ryan Dacey should provide the backbone of a solid infield. Dacey batted a team-high .341 for the Colonials as a freshman last season.

“We know what we are going to get in the infield,” Walter said. “That is our strength.”

The outfield will have to deal with the loss of Allen, who hit a GW record 20 home runs, drove in 54 runs and batted .316 last season – and now is part of the Atlanta Braves organization. The addition of centerfielder Tony Brown, who most likely will bat lead off for GW this season, should help the depth in the outfield.

In the Atlantic 10, Walter said he feels Xavier and Virginia Tech are the teams to beat, though he believes his team can contend in the conference if things progress well early in the season.

“This is definitely a rebuilding year, but at the same time if these young guys come along, we could be able to put together a winning season,” Walter said.