By Bryan Bloodworth

NORMAL – With the return of seven of its eight regulars from last year’s team, Normal CornBelters’ manager Brooks Carey has reason to be optimistic about this season.

“We’ve got a lot of veterans,’ said Carey, who begins his third season at the helm Friday when the CornBelters face the River City Rascals in O’Fallon at 6:35 p.m. “Our starting lineup is going to be full of a lot of the guys we had last year.”

Returning to the infield from third to first are Richard Lucas, Pat McKenna, Santiago Chirino and Aaron Dudley while Tyler Shover will once again handle the catching duties. Veteran outfielders Sam Judah (right) and Mark Micowski  (center) will be joined by newcomer Cameron Monger in center.

“Offensively, we were really good last year,” said Carey. “We hit .290. We hit a bunch of home runs and we were second or third in the league in runs scored, so that side of the ball is very good. We’re going to be similar to last year’s team offensive. We’re going to knock the ball around. “

The CornBelters return 13 players on their 24-man roster from a year ago, including four pitchers – Michael Schweiss, Chris Carmain, Stephen Frey and top reliever Eric Anderson.

Carey said the staff will get much stronger in the next few weeks when starters Leondy Perez and Santos Rodriguez gain their visas from the Dominican Republic .

“We’re very solid defensively,” added Carey. “If we just get good pitching, we’re going to be pretty good.”

Carey also said his team isn’t the only team in the league.

“Everybody’s optimistic, but there are a bunch of good teams in this league,” he said. “We think we’re improved a lot, but there are a lot of teams that have improved. If you win anything around here, you have to earn it.”

Bryan Bloodworth can be reached at [email protected]