Coming off an 18-4 season as co-champs in the league, the Old Rochester varsity baseball team is looking for a repeat performance or better this year.

“We have goals around here and one of them is to win the league,” said coach Steve Carvalho. “It’ll be a grind, [but] I certainly expect to be in the mix.”

Carvalho said some of his core members graduated last year, but “I do have a good nucleus back.”

That includes last year’s MVP of the South Coast Conference, Sam Henrie. This year Henrie is a junior, the team’s top pitcher and a “good overall player,” said Carvalho.

He said captain Brian Salkind is also a top player, batting 500 last year.

“He’s a tremendous hitter,” said the coach.

John Breault will be the starting catcher in his third year on the varsity team, and captain Hunter Parker is a solid second baseman. Carvalho said there are a lot of promising newcomers as well as experienced players.

“We have a lot more pitching than I thought we would,” said Salkind. “It’s definitely going to help.”

The “lean” outfield is where the team needs the most work, said Carvalho.

The players and coaches, including assistant Greg Lyons, are focusing on that part of the field, when they can get outside to play. Rainy days and spongy fields have kept the players from getting as much time on the diamond as they’d like, but that’s the way it goes with New England baseball, said Carvalho.

He added that it hasn’t slowed them down too much, aside from resulting in the cancellation of a few games.

“I think in some ways we’re ahead on the other teams because we’ve built a good indoor facility,” Carvalho said. “I was hitting balls on the football field yesterday and in the parking lot the day before. We’ll do anything to get these guys ready.”

All the hard work is, of course, with the goal of becoming league champions again this year, for a rare third year in a row.

“We’ve done a pretty good job over the years,” said the veteran coach. “We take one at a time, but getting three in a row would be real nice for the kids.”