The 2014 Eastern baseball team has three new faces in its starting lineup, but even the six returning players will have to adjust to different roles.

Junior outfielder Caleb Howell played 46 games last season, starting 45 in left and right field and leading off for coach Jim Schmitz.

Howell battled through some leg injuries early in 2013, but still led the Panthers in hitting (.362) and on-base percentage (.442).

Now, Schmitz has moved Howell to the No. 3 spot in the batting order and defensively has moved him to center field.

There are four new starters who are at different positions from last year, but Schmitz said the most important transition would be Howell replacing Nick Priessman, who was a senior last year.

Howell returned to Eastern during the fall with an injury to his quad, which occurred early on during Howell’s summer league play, Schmitz said.

“We got him back and there was a knot in there and we were like, ‘this is not what we need,’ because we wanted to see him in center field and we didn’t all fall,” Schmitz said.

Despite not seeing any practice time during the fall in center field, Howell has experience in that position.

In 2012, when Eastern made it to the Ohio Valley Conference tournament, Howell stepped in for Priessman in center after Priessman broke one of his fingers.

But Howell will not be the only player to have a new spot, as red-shirt sophomore Demetre Taylor has earned himself a starting job in left field.

“He really did a great job in the fall defensively,” Schmitz said. “He gives us a chance to have two bats in the lineup that needs some pop.”

Taylor played in 44 games last season, starting 39 times as the designated hitter. He has not started in the outfield since 2011, when he was a senior at Middleton High School in Tampa, Fla.

Eastern’s brand new outfield has freshman Frankie Perrone starting in right field.

It will take some time for the three outfielders to gel and get used to playing besides each other.

“We have an outfield that is kind of really new to each other and we just have to be patient with how they play together and they get it,” Schmitz said. “But I think it is going to have a bit more speed than what we’ve had in the past.”

Another freshman will also take on a vital role to the team, as Marshawn Taylor will be the Panthers’ shortstop.

Schmitz said it was important to go out and get a solid defender at shortstop after last season, when the position proved to be a liability for Eastern’s defense.

Tyler Schweigert started 26 games, while Dane Sauer started a combined 28 times at shortstop and second base. Between Schweigert and Sauer, 21 errors were made in 69 combined games played.

Marshawn gets to start because of the inconsistency from last year, Schmitz said.

“Our shortstop was really a question mark all year long last year, so we went out and got a guy who we think is going to be a really good defender,” he said.

Schmitz said it is a big responsibly for Marshawn, but that he will mainly expect solid defense, while decreasing the stress offensively by batting the freshman ninth.

After Treysen Vavra transferred to Florida Southern College during the summer, Schmitz was left a hole at first base.

One of his first options was Jason Scholl, but Schmitz has decided to place Scholl as the designated hitter.

Luckily, for Schmitz, he received a late-summer transfer to fill in that gap at first.

Adam Casson played for Parkland College last season.

The junior played in 57 games at first base, making Eastern a good fit.

“Casson isn’t really a pop guy, but he seems to always get a big hit and we’ve seen that through the fall and some scrimmages,” Schmitz said.

Those returning are third baseman, Brant Valach, catcher Jacob Reese and second baseman Mitch Gasbarro.

Reese is the lone senior on the field for Eastern and after struggling at the plate a year ago, Schmitz is eager to see the catcher perform well in his final year with the Panthers.

Gasbarro played both shortstop and second base last season, but he will now officially take over for Nathan Sopena.

Eastern will start the season playing 13 straight road games, beginning Friday with a four-game series against No. 14 Louisiana-Lafayette.

The Ragin’ Cajuns are one of four top-25 ranked teams Eastern will play before its first home game in early March.

After missing the OVC tournament last season, Schmitz said the team is “all in” this year, trying to earn back the respect the Panthers had after 2012, when they played for the conference championship.

“We’ve tried to go over some of the tradition here, some of the championships we’ve had and just gaining that respect back from other people by how you play the game,” Schmitz said.

Aldo Soto can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].