SOAP LAKE - After a one year hiatus, the Soap Lake High School baseball team is back on the diamond and ready to play ball.

The Eagles were unable to field a team last year, but did play in 2010 and made the state playoffs, losing to Colfax in the first round.

"Several players with experience return to the team this season," Tom Beierman, now in his fourth year as head coach at Soap Lake, said. "Jordan Korolak is a well-rounded player offensively and defensively.  He will see a lot of time as pitcher and short stop.  Anthony King, Daniel Shtyba, and Jason Korneychuk have great speed and good outfield skills. Joe Cutshall, our starting catcher is an eighth grader."

The strengths and weakness on the team mirror each other as youth is a factor of both characteristics.

"We have a lot of motivated eighth graders and freshman who hustle, work hard, and are coachable," Beierman said. "The greatest weakness on the team is a lack of overall experience. Consequently, fundamental offensive and defensive skills, along with situational awareness, are high priorities during practice."

As far as how his team will stack up to the competition in the 2B Central Washington Conference this year, Beierman said he's familiar with a few of the teams, but some he has never played before.

"The teams in our division include Bridgeport, Kittitas, White Swan, Warden, and Riverside Christian of Yakima. Bridgeport hasn't had a team for several years, so I believe they will be similar to us as far as experience and skill level,' he said. "Kittitas has always been a tough team to beat. We have never faced Riverside Christian or White Swan in baseball. Warden has had a very strong program and a lot of depth in their roster.  At this point in time, I believe they are going to be at the top of the standings."

The Eagles will find out how competitive they will be this season when Soap Lake travels to Ephrata today to take on the Tigers in a non-league game at 3:15 p.m.