COEUR d'ALENE - They return six players with experience at the American Legion baseball class AA level.

The newcomers have won a state class A championship and had a taste of the regional tournament.

Together, the Coeur d'Alene Lumbermen will have a large mix of utility players that will hope to return to the state tournament for the eighth straight season under seventh-year coach Lloyd Duman.

"It's really nice," Duman said. "A lot of younger kids are from that state championship team and from Coeur d'Alene's state tournament team. That experience is going to be huge."

The Lums are scheduled to open their season today at the Dale Dahlgren Memorial Day tournament in Missoula.

Chad Nyquist, Colin Comack and Grant Curtis played at the Community Colleges of Spokane, and Pete Hoffman played at NCAA Division III Willamette in Salem, Ore.

"In the past, that year of college experience really matures them," Duman said. "They get the chance to see the bigger picture of baseball - and that's a learning experience in itself. They get to see so many different players and how its played. They really add a maturity to the team."

Joe Roletto and Garrett Cabeza also return from last year's team which finished 39-21 and won the AA Area A tournament. The Lums went 0-2 at state.

Suraj Kedia, Brett Robbins, Jesse O'Hagan, Kolby DeHaas, Mark Nuttleman and Sean Sutton moved up from last year's "A" Loggers squad, which won the state title and went 2-2 at regionals in Oregon.

Kedia, Robbins, O'Hagan, Chad Nyquist and Hoffman will be in the starting rotation in the outfield, with Devin Kluss and Braeden Jacobson slotted in backup roles.

"We're a team that's going to be mixing and matching our outfield depending on who is pitching," Duman said.

Coeur d'Alene faces the Glacier (Kalispell) Twins at 2 p.m. PDT at Osprey Field.

On Sunday, the Lums are scheduled to play the Helena Senators at 9 a.m. PDT and the Bozeman Bucks at 11:30.

On Monday, the Lums play the Missoula Mavericks at 11:30 a.m. If Coeur d’Alene makes it to the title game, it is scheduled for 2 p.m.

The Coeur d’Alene Loggers “A” team also opens the season today in the class A version of the same tournament, facing Glacier at Maverick Field at 2.

Infielders will consist of Curtis and Sutton at first base, Comack, Nick Nyquist and Roletto up the middle and Cabeza, Roletto and DeHaas at third. Jacob Gonzalas will also see time in the infield as a newcomer to the program.

“Our kind of players are going to need to know multiple positions,” Duman said. “We’ve got a lot of utility players this year.”

Roletto and DeHaas will split catching duties this season.

“Joe’s our ultimate universal player,” Duman said. “He can catch, play third and was in the outfield last year. We can use him about anywhere. I really like the way he catches. He’s got a nasty curve ball too. Depending on who is pitching, we’ll have our lineup adjusted to that.”

Hoffman, Comack and Curtis return on the mound for Coeur d’Alene, with Kedia, Sutton and Gonzales also in the starting mix.

“We’re cautiously optimistic about our pitching right now,” Duman said. “Pete and Colin were our workhorses last year and Grant got a lot of innings. Suraj and Sean will be in the mix. Gonzalas can pitch as well and I think we’ve got six really good starters.”

Nuttleman will either start or be a reliever this year.

“He was really effective last year for the Loggers,” Duman said. “He is so easy going, we know we can use him in crucial situations.”

Mitch Bevacqua, a junior who verbally committed to the University of Washington earlier this year, will not return — opting to play on the Spokane Heat club team.

This year’s state AA tournament will be Aug. 1-5 at Harris Field in Lewiston. Host Lewis-Clark gets an automatic bid.

Coeur d’Alene, Prairie and British Columbia teams Trail and Cranbrook will compete for the league’s other two bids to state at the AA Area A (district) tournament at McEuen Field July 26-29. Sandpoint dropped back to single-A this year.

“It’s nice we get to keep our two regular slots anyway,” Duman said. “If you look at how teams in our league have played, teams at state usually do pretty well and are competitive at state. It really shows the strength of the league.”

If proposed changes to McEuen go through as planned, this could be the Legion team’s last season at the storied downtown ballpark.

Coeur d’Alene will also host the Border Wars (June 1-3), Best of the Northwest (June 20-24) and Spokane/Coeur d’Alene Wood Bat tournament July 4-7, as well as travel to the Buffalo Wild Wings tournament in Nampa (June 14-17) and to a tournament at Clackamas, Ore. (July 11-15).

“We’ve got a pretty aggressive schedule again this year,” Duman said. “We’re going to spend most of the year learning. But the guys we’ve got are kind of an interesting mix. Those young kids are very good athletes. It’s going to be interesting to see that mix and how it works throughout the season.”