NATCHEZ — If the Cathedral Green Wave are going to come close to duplicating their 21-0 regular season of last year, they are going to need some players to step up and fill the big shoes of some departed seniors.

Cathedral begins its season March 1 against Adams County Christian at Chester Willis Field, and coach Craig Beesley wants to see some pitchers step up and fill the shoes of last year’s All-Metro Player of the Year Preston Edwards.

“Our main focus right now is trying to replace Preston on the mound,” Beesley said. “We had two scrimmage games last weekend and I was a little disappointed with our ability to throw strikes in key situations.”

Beesley said he will look to Dylan White and Aaron White to get most of the action on the mound.

“Right now, I’m hoping they’ll take over for Preston,” Beesley aid. “He threw a lot of innings for us last year, so it will take a lot to replace him.”

In addition to losing Edwards’ arm, they also lose his bat, along with two others in the middle of their lineup, Kole Junkin and Daniel Jenkins.

“We lost three of our biggest hitters from last year in Preston, Kole and Daniel,” Beesley said. “But we hit the ball pretty well Saturday. Loyd Star beat us, but I thought we put the ball in play pretty well. As the season progresses and we get more playing time, I feel like the bats will come around for us.”

And as the Green Wave gets ready to start their season, one thing that is apparent is the upgrade in their schedule from last year.

Cathedral will take on teams such as ACCS, Vidalia, Monterey and Franklin County, as well as play in the Vidalia Tournament in mid-March.

“The main thing we did during the offseason was upgrade our schedule,” Beesley said. “We picked up some good competition. Hopefully playing the better competition helps us in district play.”

And Beesley hopes that is the case because it is now more difficult to make the playoffs than in years past.

“They are only taking the top two teams in each district this year,” Beesley said. “We’ve got our work cut out for us to get in the playoffs. Hopefully we’ll get in there because you never know what’s going to happen when the playoffs start.”