SLIPPERY ROCK — At this time last year, very few pundits gave the Slippery Rock High baseball team much of a chance to make the playoffs, let alone win a District 10 title.

The Rockets had four freshmen in their projected starting lineup and hadn’t cracked the postseason since 2008.

But Slippery Rock got hot late in the season, surged into the postseason and won its first-ever playoff game on the way to a district title.

Now the question is: Can the Rockets do it again?

“We don’t want to be a one-hit wonder,” said Slippery Rock coach Nathan McCollough, who is entering his third season as coach. “We don’t want people to think, ‘Oh, they just got lucky.’”

Slippery Rock did lose ace pitcher Cody Stephenson, but had another ace emerge last season in Joe Barnhart. The senior will anchor a staff that looks to be solid again.

The Rockets still have goals to achieve.

“We want to win the conference. That’s something Slippery Rock hasn’t done,” McCollough said. “That’s our first goal and then we’ll move on from there.

“More teams are going to be gunning for us this year,” McCollough added. “I like that.”

One of those teams will be Grove City, the club the Rockets beat in the district title game.

The Eagles, though, will have a new coach for the first time in the program’s history as Bill Herman takes over for Pat Forese, who started the baseball team at the school 26 years ago.

In the WPIAL, Seneca Valley will look to get back to the league championship game for the fourth consecutive year behind the arm of ace Connor Coward.

Butler will be looking to bounce back from a disappointing season.

In District 9, all eyes will be on Karns City and its loaded roster. The Gremlins rolled to a district title last season.

Here is a quick look at each of the Butler County baseball teams this season:

Butler

n Coach: Todd Erdos, fourth year

n On the mound: Jesse Savisky (senior), Nick Reamer (senior), Wyatt Daugherty (junior), Mark Gross (junior)

n Lineup: C-Kyle Campbell (senior), Lake Sankey (junior); 1B-Logan Maxwell (senior), Gross; 2B-Ryan Denny (senior), Garrett Goslaw (junior); 3B-Nick Patton (junior); SS-Cory Wheeler (senior); OF-Ryan Vero (junior), Reid Werth (junior), Nathan Kibbie (sophomore), Luke Baranchak (junior)

n Outlook: The Golden Tornado struggled last season, but Erdos expects a much better 2014 campaign.

“Every year we go into it shooting for the best,” Erdos said. “This is a close group and hardest working group of guys since I’ve been here. They put the effort in day-in and day-out.”

Seneca Valley

n Coach: Eric Semega, 14th year

n On the mound: Connor Coward (senior), Alex Hajduk (senior) Troy Markle (junior), Matt Rafferty (senior)

n Lineup: C-John Davis (senior), Nick Gentry (junior), Matt Cavanaugh (senior); 1B-Coward, Dan Lopresti (senior); 2B-John Brittner (junior); 3B-several in the mix; SS-Hajduk, Shane Hepner (sophomore); OF-Dan Barner (senior), John Harper (senior), Rafferty, Vince Augustine (junior)

n Outlook: The Raiders lost a slew of talent from a team that played for the WPIAL championship for the third straight season.

To get to a fourth consecutive league championship game, Seneca Valley will lean heavily on its pitching staff, led by Virginia Tech recruit Coward.

“Every year everyone loses guys,” Semega said. “It’s just a matter of how the players do when they step in to the varsity lineup for the first time, how they handle the pressure. Our motto this year is “why not?”

Knoch

n Coach: George Bradley, fourth year

n On the mound: Gavin Miller (senior), Alex Stobert (sophomore), Zachary Junk (senior), Cole Shinsky (sophomore), Dustin Montgomery (junior), Brian Jack (sophomore)

n Lineup: C-Asa Adams (junior), Miller; 1B-Caleb Thorn (senior), Shinsky; 2B-Chris Law (junior), Jordan Kowalski (junior); 3B-Stobert, Miller, Garrett Traggiai (junior); SS-Hyte Eurich (senior); OF-Spencer Voltz (senior), Junk, Jordan Hickey (senior), Harrison Fesel (junior), Joel Zacherl (junior), Addis Crouch (sophomore)

n Outlook: The Knights return a slew of arms, including many who were key contributors last season.

“I think we’ll be competitive,” Bradley said. “You get excited when you see lots of good players and some experience, but it’s baseball and we’re in a tough section.”

Mars

n Coach: Brian Hobaugh, sixth year

n On the mound: Nate Furl (senior), Matt Parrish (senior), Kevin Gannon (senior), Cameron Smith (senior), Ty Reginelli (junior), Brendan McKaveney (junior), Josh Bartley (senior)

n Lineup: C-Rob Miller (senior), Jake Swiatek (junior); 1B-Sam Williams (senior); 2B-Adam Natale (senior), Noah Gasparin (senior); 3B-Reginelli, Connor McGinnis (senior); SS-Reginelli, McGinnis; OF-Travis Ganter (senior), Gannon, Parrish, Colin Stewart (senior), Cade Naismith (junior)

n Outlook: The Planets are loaded with seniors, but many of them did not see significant varsity action last season.

Still, Mars has Furl, one of the top pitchers in the section, and Parrish as a solid 1-2 punch at the top of the staff.

“We have speed and solid defense,” Hobaugh said. “I’m not sure of the bats. If the bats come around, we can make some noise.”

Freeport

n Coach: Chris Graczyk, 14th year

n On the mound: Brandon DiBello (senior), Danny Fetchko (senior), Hunter Fennell (senior), Matt VanTine (junior), Nathan Pastorek (sophomore), Ryan Eshenbaugh (junior), Ryan Weigold (sophomore), Zack Stokes (sophomore)

n Lineup: C-Matt Swartz (senior); 1B-DiBello, Pastorek, Eshenbaugh; 2B-Brendon Zack (senior), Nate McCrea (junior), Justin Brestensky (sophomore); 3B-Josh Beale (sophomore); SS-Zack, McCrea, Brestensky; OF-Fennell, Jake Lutz (junior), Noah Shannon (senior), Kris Keppel (sophomore), Weigold, VanTine

n Outlook: The Yellowjackets always have high expectations and this season is no different.

“As always, we set our goals high and our aim is to win our section and make the playoffs,” Graczyk said. “ We return several starters and several players who saw some quality playing time last year, along with some talented sophomores. I think we can be very competitive in our section and hopefully beyond.”

Karns City

n Coach: Randy Collins, fourth year

n On the mound: Matt Yough (junior), Tyler Kepple (senior), Holden Martin (sophomore), Wyatt Everetts (senior), Jimmy Thompson (freshman), Dillin Geibel (senior)

n Lineup: C-Nathan Weckerly (senior); 1B-Mike Riley (senior); 2B-Evan Stitt (sophomore), Martin, Thompson; 3B-Alessandro Marotto (junior); SS-Kepple, Yough; OF-Everetts, Zach Moore (senior), Geibel, Tyler Dunn (junior)

n Outlook: The Gremlins have most of their key players back from a District 9 championship and are looking for much more.

“We have seven guys back and theoretically, we should be better than we were last year,” Collins said.

Moniteau

n Coach: Ross Martin, ninth year

n On the mound: Zach Jewart (junior), Colton Cumberland (senior), Derek Boben (sophomore), Josh Adamson (freshman), Josh McBride (junior), Jacob McBride (junior), Austin Blauser (junior)

n Lineup: C-Blauser, Cach Adamson (sophomore); 1B-Kaleb Eschenbaugh (junior), Josh McNeish (sophomore), Lake Pry (freshman); 2B-Josh McBride, Aaron Marterella (sophomore), Justin Wald (sophomore); 3B-Jacob McBride, Gregg Sutton (sophomore); SS-Cumberland, Marterella; OF-Devon Zang (sophomore), Wyatt Ifft (sophomore), Corey Powell (junior), Cody Skiver (junior), Marcus Fry (junior), Jacob Fullerton (junior), Elijah Stewart (sophomore); Utility-Nathan Hoshak (junior)

n Outlook: The Warriors got hot at the end of last season and pushed Karns City to the limit in the District 9 Class AA championship game.

Moniteau, with a deep roster and some impact players returning, will look to build off the strong finish a year ago.

A-C Valley

n Coach: Mike Woodward, first season

n On the mound: Austin Morgan (senior), Tommy Amsler (sophomore)

n Lineup: C-Dustin Fletcher (senior), John Anderson (sophomore), Dylan Stewart (sophomore); 1B-Jeff Eaton (senior), 2B-Jake Powell (senior), Zach Muhl (sophomore), Aaron Busch (freshman); 3B-Andrew Strauser (senior), Dylan Fox (senior); SS-Evan Slater (senior), Drew Kralj (junior); OF-Hunter Definbaugh (junior), Dakota Jones (junior), Noah Morgan (sophomore)

n Outlook: The Falcons may be a little thin on the mound, but Woodward is confident there is a young core to build around.“We have a small group of kids that work hard and play well together,” Woodward said. “We are well-rounded at all positions and will be competitive against the teams on our schedule. The coaching staff has a good outlook on the season and we are looking forward to what it will bring us.”

Slippery Rock

n Coach: Nathan McCollough, third year

n On the mound: Joe Barnhart (senior), Jake Arienzo (junior), Jackson Kerchis (sophomore)

n Lineup: C-Josh Bowser (sophomore); 1B-Kerchis; 2B-Matt Badger (senior); 3B-Barnhart, Jason Rockburn (junior), Danny Williams (freshman); SS-Ryan Lauster (sophomore); OF-Travis Lauster (junior), Arienzo, many others in the mix.

n Outlook: The Rockets came out of nowhere to win the district title last season. McCollough is simply hoping to build upon that success.

“I think the goal stays the same,” McCollough said.

Grove City

n Coach: Bill Herman, first year

n On the mound: Matt Gordon (senior), Jesse Hodge (junior), Brandon Grace (junior), Jordan Anderson (junior), Tucker McBride (junior)

n Lineup: C-Brandon Dennis (sophomore); 1B-Doug Horner (senior); 2B-Derek Saylor (senior); 3B-Brett Snyder (junior), Saylor; SS-Hodge; OF-Anderson, Jared Sample (senior), Dustin Maine (senior); Utility-Justin Thompson (senior), Zach Reddick (junior)

n Outlook: Herman becomes the second coach in Grove City baseball history and he inherits the District 10 Pitcher of the Year in Matt Gordon.

“I feel pretty confident we’ll play some good baseball,” Herman said. “I just want to see the guys compete daily and play the game the right way. We’re going to rely a lot on Matt Gordon, both on the mound and on offense.”

The Union coaches could not be reached for comment.