The temperature is rapidly dropping and the leaves are falling, but Panther head baseball coach Jim Schmitz is already thinking spring.

Eastern’s fall season ended last week with the Blue squad beating the Gray squad 3-1 in the “World Series” split-squad games.

More important than the results was what Schmitz discovered about the team he’ll carry into next February.

“Fall is very important for us,” Schmitz said. “We can make roster changes and it’s highly competitive.”

One such roster change is with senior Aaron Shelbourne. He started as a shortstop last year, but will play at third base this year and will throw relief for the Panthers. The Olney Central Community College transfer throws in the 88-90 mph range and will take pressure off ace reliever Nathan Stone.

Shelbourne won three of the four series games.

Sophomore Jordan Pals, who struggled many times last spring, had some solid outings during the series and should be the Panthers’ No. 1 starter. Senior Matt Tyson, who was arguably the Panthers’ best reliever last year, improved his curve ball and will move from the bullpen to a spot in the starting rotation.

Schmitz’s biggest concern for the spring is hitting, but the fall season put some of his worries to rest. Gone are Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year outfielder Pete Pirman, 2001 league Newcomer of the Year Ben Duke and slugger Brian Nickell (10 home runs) to graduation.

Redshirt-freshman outfielder Pete Stone showed promise with two game-winning hits. Junior outfielder Marcus Jackson, who played sparingly last season batted .411 it the series. Freshman first baseman T.J. Lindberg hit .428 in the series. Junior college transfer Eddie Rivera led the Panthers with a .571 average.

“I think last year we didn’t do very well offensively unless we got the big home run – we were explosive,” said Schmitz, who enters his ninth year as Panther head baseball coach. “I think this year we’ll be able to do more than that.”

Despite Schmitz’s optimism, he said the Panthers aren’t quite ready to play regular season ball just yet.

First-year assistant coach Michael Husted made his debut with rave reviews from Schmitz. Husted will coach hitting in the spring.

“Coach Husted got an A and I got a C+,” Schmitz said. “The thing is, I don’t think he can fire me.”

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