But an entire fall is definitely long enough.

“Fall ball definitely helped us get ready for the regular season,” freshman shortstop Dominic Schwartz said.

The two pairs of positions that most require a good connection are pitcher and catcher and shortstop and second base. Sure enough, pitcher Sam Mallonee, catcher Luke Wilson, Schwartz and second baseman Chris Chen, all freshmen, had the luxury of playing together last semester. Another standout player, freshman pitcher Nate Gilchrist, couldn’t play fall ball because he was busy leading the JV football as quarterback. Nonetheless, Gilchrist might be the best of the bunch and could be enough to for Lowell to win its second straight championship.

This extra practice will not only help the JV team this year, but will also serve the varsity squad well in future years. With only one sophomore on varsity this season, as compared with five, three and five the previous three seasons, the team could run into a talent shortage in a couple of years. This strong freshman class might just be enough to fill that void, especially with strong veteran guidance. “We got some good leadership in (sophomores) Nick Lao and Jeff Lew,” Chen said.

In the meantime, the young squad is focused on repeating last year’s championship JV season. “We’re going to have a solid team,” Schwartz said.

Lowell opens it league schedule at 3:30 p.m. on March 12 versus Galileo at Garrigan Field.