TIM WEIGHT/For The Express Bald Eagle Area won their second consecutive state championship last spring and the Class of 2024 leaves huge holes to fill and a legacy as well.

WINGATE — Last season was a historical one for the Bald Eagle Area baseball team to say the least, as it was able to secure back-to-back PIAA State Championships, a rare feat for area teams.

This year’s team said goodbye to longtime coach Jim Gardner, who finished his career with 280 wins at Bald Eagle to go along with five Mountain League titles, four District 6 titles and three PIAA state titles. It now welcomes Ryan MacNamara to the helm, who is excited to get his debut season started.

The rookie coach will be assisted by a strong list of assistants. They will be Justin Taylor, Luke Gardner, Jim Gardner, Chad MacNamara and John Jones. For junior varsity, the team’s head coach will be Zach Rote and Gavin Burns and Parker Quick will serve as assistants.

As the Eagles try to replace its storied senior class from last season, which featured the likes of Kahale Burns, Kaden Burns, Gavin Burns, Cam Watkins, Tayten Yoder, Weston McClain, Gabe Foster and Nick Wible, there will be plenty of new faces in new places.

However, there’s still a strong group of returners to this year’s squad, with key contributors from last season in Brayden Dubbs, Connor Perry, Wyatt Spackman, Teagun Runkle, and Wyatt Kowalczyk all set to run it back. In his first year, MacNamara will be looking to get the most out of the seasoned players he has on his team.

“They’ve been around the program for a couple years now and know what it takes to have success,” said MacNamara when discussing those returners. “Look for them to lead and pass on knowledge to lead the next generation of ball players.”

As the team looks reload for the 2025 season. there’s also a fresh group of promising underclassmen set to make an impact on this legendary program once again.

“We have freshman Isaac Johnson and sophomore Issac Meyer, who are competing for second base,” said MacNamara. “Sophomore Luke Hosband is competing at third base and on the mound. Freshman Riley Bucha is competing on the mound as well. Sophomore Dawson Lomison will compete in the outfield along with juniors Kaden Clark, Teagun Runkle and Graysen White. Junior Kaleb Irion will compete behind the plate with sophomore Hayden Stimer.”

Offense is expected to be the defending state champion’s biggest strength this season.

“It’s always tough losing a group like the one we just had, but it’s that next man up attitude we must have. We’ve hit the ball well early, just getting those clutch hits to cash in more runs,” said MacNamara. “We have some young arms on the mound getting experience, which is good. But we’ll need to rely on our senior leaders on the mound and at the plate as well.”

The biggest hurdle they’ll have to overcome is the freshness of some of their newer players.

“I would have to say experience. We’re a young team with a lot of upside. It’s about getting those varsity innings under their belt to build confidence throughout the season,” mentioned MacNamara.

The goal for this squad is simple.

“We want to compete on every pitch. If we do that, we will set ourselves up for success later in the season for playoffs,” said MacNamara.

Being a member of the Laurel Highlands Conference, MacNamara doesn’t see an easy team on his upcoming schedule. Plenty of challenges await this team in its pursuit of the coveted three-peat, a reality MacNamara isn’t overlooking as he prepares to get the best out of this newlook Eagles squad.

“Every game is tough in this league. We need to come ready to play every day. We usually try to schedule our non-conference games versus bigger schools to prepare us for the postseason,” said McNamara. “We have a lot of good baseball in this area, and you have to compete every game.”