Late spring means high school graduation and ballplayers returning from college. For Rock Hill American Legion Post 34 coach Steve Knight, it's time to wear out his eraser on lineup cards.

"This is the time of year for spring sports banquets and with graduations going on, our lineup will change a lot early in the season," Knight said.

The end of the high school baseball season ushers in summer ball. American Legion baseball is back. The five teams that make up League V have already held tryouts and the season has started.

Interest is high again this year. Knight had 51 players show up for the three-day tryout. That's the most he can remember. The turnout made his job more difficult. He had to trim nearly two-thirds of those players to get to his 18-man roster.

Knight, starting his 10th season, said it was tough.

"We wanted to have good talent, but we were also looking for a team that can mesh together. We have a really young team. Only five players are playing their final year of Legion ball," Knight said.

"Everyone will play. We have good chemistry. We'll be able to pull players in and out like engine parts, but the engine will keep running."

Buck Schwing heads up League V. This is his 33rd year. He's looking forward to another season.

"We've put together a 16-game schedule. The teams will play each other four times each. I think we'll have a good year this year. We're all pretty evenly matched. Chester may have some more experience than the rest of the teams," Schwing said.

Rock Hill will be a young team with some big holes to fill this year. Gone are pitchers Josh Salay, Cam Walters and Tyler Lehman.

Salay threw in the low-90s for Post 34 last year. He is at Spartanburg Methodist. Walters, a Winthrop freshman, will play in a wooden-bat summer league. Lehman just finished his freshman year at Francis Marion.

"Those guys could pitch and they hit well," Knight said.

Graduating seniors Stewart Curry and Wade Ruff will need to anchor the pitching staff. Curry, a Rock Hill High School product, will pitch for Presbyterian next year. Ruff, out of Northwestern, will throw for Newberry.

Casey Seay, Josh Bowers and Seth Rainey will also get work on the mound.

Post 34 had 11 hits in its season-opener. The offense could be the strong point of this team.

Curry, Seay and Bowers can all hit as well as pitch. Knight said it is tough to say who the best hitters are on the team because they can all hit. He likes what he's seen from Ross Lisee, Jeff Bowers and Evan Andert at the plate.

Post 34 had a great opportunity last year. It had the pitching and the city hosted the state tournament.

Knight said his team was playing the best baseball of the season in the playoffs. The team took a few days off prior to the tournament and they lost the momentum.

"Always our goal is working to make the playoffs and get into the state tournament," Knight said.

CHESTER

Chester has two All-State performers and six college kids on the roster. First-year coach Dennis Jensen may have quite a debut with this group.

Great Falls' Kyle Heffner can play all nine positions, Jensen says. He played second base for the Red Devils and hit .413 with 35 RBIs and nine homers. He and Lewisville's Brendon Van Nostrand made the Class A All-State team recently.

Van Nostrand was 5-3 with 54 strikeouts in 54 innings on the mound. He also hit .339.

Another pair of former-Lewisville standouts should be at the top of the rotation. Jay Guidry pitched at Lander this season and Taylor Ramsey is at Francis Marion.

Great Falls alums Ben Roberts and Justin Temple are back from college. Roberts played for Anderson and will play center field and could become a closer. Temple, a 6-foot-3 right-hander, was on the North Greenville roster this spring.

Drew and Chad Thompson are at USC Lancaster. They will play for coach Mike Prochaska next year in the Lancers' inaugural season.

Drew is a right-handed pitcher/second baseman. Chad is a lefty and plays the outfield.

"They will be good for that program," Jensen said.

Philip Greenleaf will catch. Chris Thomas will pitch and play several other positions. Both are headed to Lander in the fall.

Daniel Rawls, an All-Diamond prospect according to Jensen, will play either shortstop or third base.

Jensen thinks this team will be much better than they were a year ago.

"Greenleaf and Heffner have improved a lot over last year. This probably a much improved team than last year," Jensen said.

FORT MILL

Erik Baddeley graduated from Fort Mill High in 1992. A catcher, he went on to play at North Greenville and USC Aiken. He played under Coastal Carolina coach Gary Gilmore at USC Aiken.

It is Gilmore's laid-back coaching style that Baddeley will use in his first year coaching American Legion Post 43 this year.

He'll be looking for catcher Michael Baker and second baseman Shane Whitman to lead his team. Third baseman Alex Matziet is a Class A All-State selection from Indian Land. He batted .486 with 21 RBIs and two home runs this year for the Warriors.

Two college players are on the team -- pitcher/shortstop Frank Mitlin and Shawn Michaels.

"At this point, the first week will be a chance to learn each other," Baddeley said. "So many are playing travel ball. I believe American Legion ball will give these guys just as much exposure at this level."

Anna Kimbrell will be the first female to play American Legion ball, at least in these parts. A rising junior at Nation Ford, Kimbrell will pitch, play some first base and catch.

Schwing said he didn't have to research to know whether she could be on the team.

"Any student can come out for American Legion," he said. "I think that will be great."

Baddeley was quick to brag on Kimbrell.

"She is a great athlete. I'm expecting big things from her," Baddeley said.

LANCASTER

Lancaster is coming off a 27-10 season and is the defending League V champion, but has lost eight starters. Coach Rashad Cunningham has only six returning off that squad and seven first-year players.

Cunningham has a simple goal to start the year.

"We want to eliminate errors. Then we'll work on winning the league and making it to the state tournament," Cunningham said.

Cunningham had a great debut last year.

"We've been scrimmaging against the top teams in the state. We have good contact hitters. We're hoping our hitting will out-do our pitching," he said.

Khoury Hammond and Josh Eubanks will be counted on to lead the offense. Hammond will play for USC Lancaster. Eubanks has committed to Charleston Southern.

Matt Schipani, Darius Cherry, Josh Warfield and Nick Ferguson will also contribute at the plate.

Ferguson is also the ace of the pitching staff. Matt Woods, along with left-handers Evan Bird and Jordan Workman, will also factor into the rotation. Bird is an All-Region 3-AAAA performer.

"We have had three-and-a-half-hour practices to allow me to see what I have," Cunningham said.

CLOVER

Clover is beginning just its second year of American Legion play. Post 38 was 5-15 in its inaugural season. They lost 10 straight to start the year but ended 5-5.

Coach Darrell Van Dyke said getting a Legion team in Clover was necessary after York folded its team.

"Kids in Clover used to go to York. Then they were going to Kings Mountain and some to Fort Mill to play Legion," Van Dyke said. "If we were going to get better in Clover, we had needed American Legion. We're not looking for a quick fix. We're trying to build a good program."

Clover will depend on four sophomores -- Evan Jackson, Kraig Dean, Tommy Walkowiak and Travis Heffner -- and a junior Clint Medlin will anchor the pitching staff.

Freshman outfielder Hayden Henry, first baseman Harrison Morris and infielder Bradley Victor are offensive weapons.

"We felt pretty good about how we played down the stretch last year. Hopefully we can scratch out a few more wins this year," Van Dyke added.