STEVENS POINT – It’s a goal every athlete has entering they’re senior season and it’s one that can come to fruition for the Stevens Point Pacelli baseball team.

The Cardinals went 16-0 in the Central Wisconsin Eight last season and were 21-0 before falling in the regional final to eventual WIAA Division 3 state champion Marathon.

The only thing standing in the way of No. 4 according to the coaches of the conference as polled by the Baseball Wisconsin Yearbook is Bonduel and Weyauwega-Fremont.

“It’s a nice to have, saying you’ve won a conference title every year, but Bonduel and Weyauwega-Fremont both should be very good this year,” Pacelli coach Wayne Sankey said. “It’s always a battle every year when we play Bonduel.”

The Cardinals should be right there in the midst of the three-way battle atop the conference race anchored by first-team all-conference catcher Michael Jurgella.

He’ll have a pitching staff that brings back top-flight right-handers Terrell Drewek (second-team all-conference), Nick Nalbach and Kevin Malnory.

They will have to work with a new-look infield at all four positions. The new full-time starters, aren’t completely new, however, as injuries at the start of last season led to some underclassmen getting playing time which should pay dividends this season.

“On paper it looks like we lost a lot, but we have four quality infielders coming back,” Sankey said.

A look to the outfield, where two of the four starting pitchers play when not pitching, and the Cardinals have the ability to keep opposing runners from advancing that extra base.

“The arm strength of those guys out there is definitely something that teams will notice and not want to test,” Sankey said. “That’s an asset of having those guys out there.”

Jurgella, who started the first five games his freshman year before breaking his wrist and missed the rest of the season, is just as strong at the plate as he is behind it.

Sankey said he hit successfully in 21 of the Cardinals’ 22 games last season.

“He was the guy no one really remembered after getting hurt his freshman year,” Sankey said. “He’s a solid hitter and is a very good defensive catcher.”

Drewek will also be valuable at the plate, where he turns around and hits from the left side.

“Both of those guys will hit in the top four of the lineup,” Sankey said.

All of those keys will come into play in the race for the CWC-8 title which should be one of the best in the state.

“Those head-to-head games at the end of the season are going to be great,” Sankey said. “If one of us can sweep another team, that would be huge.”