Canfield High School baseball coach Gary Knittle can understand people expecting a down year in 2020 after the Cardinals lost a vastly talented senior class that included five players moving on to college baseball.

He also understood that there might be even more potential college prospects on Canfield’s current roster.

One of the area’s most consistent programs, the Cardinals were anxious for a shot to see if they can blend some senior standouts with a wildly successful group of underclassmen.

Gov. Mike DeWine announced Monday school buildings are closed for the remainder of the academic year because of the coronavirus outbreak. Students and teachers continue remote schooling, but spring sports are likely to end. The Ohio High School Athletic Association has not made a final decision.

Canfield would have been one of the teams to watch in the Mahoning Valley.

“This is a different kind of year,” Knittle said about having a smaller senior class. “We kind of have a mix. We only have six seniors this year. So, it was going to be a young group, and these (seniors) were going to have to help out these younger players.

“… But this is the most talented freshman and sophomore class that I’ve been around in 20 years, and I’ve been around some teams that won state titles. This freshman group is off the charts.”

While their youth is impressive, Knittle said the seniors are the heart and soul of the Cardinals.

Senior Brent Herrmann is a returning All-Ohio selection who was unbeaten as a junior, going 7-0 with a 1.80 ERA in 53 innings. The left-hander also was the All-American Conference, Red Tier co-player of the year. Knittle said Herrmann is successful because of an “ultra competitive” mindset and a dominant change-up.

“He’s probably the toughest competitor that I’ve ever been around,” Knittle said. “He’s undersized. He doesn’t have this huge presence (on the mound). He doesn’t throw 90, but he probably has the best change-up I’ve ever seen. It’s filthy. He beat Walsh Jesuit last year. He threw a complete game when they were ranked 10th in the nation.

“In big games, he came up big. He’s just ultra-competitive. He’s got a chip on his shoulder constantly.”

Behind Herrmann was another undefeated pitcher in senior Brayden Beck.

Beck, another lefty, was 3-0 with a 0.70 ERA in 2019. He was an all-league selection and honorable mention all-state. Seth Velker, a third left-handed pitcher, brought even more experience and talent to a deep pitching staff.

All three lefties also play the outfield, with Beck being the team’s leading returning hitter. He owned a .316 batting average, a .513 slugging percentage and also belted a team-best two home runs.

Knittle is confident they can help prepare an immensely gifted group of underclassmen for the varsity level.

“(Herrmann and Beck), the younger guys really looked up to them,” Knittle said. “They were going to play big leadership roles.”

Some of the young phenoms seemed varsity-ready.

Players like AJ Havrilla (3B), Ben Slanker (SS/OF) and Brock Lowery (C/OF) would play key roles for the Cardinals, who are replacing five infield positions — all freshmen. Knittle described them as “enormous” from a physically fit standpoint and unafraid of competing at the high school level after playing in several major tournaments over the past few years.

“They’re just different,” he said of the freshmen. “That’s why they were going to have the opportunity, and I was hoping they’d get the opportunity this year.”

Aside from the aforementioned players, he and his coaching staff were excited by the potential of Chris Sammarone, a junior who didn’t play the last few seasons but showed a powerful bat upon returning. Sophomore pitchers Landon Beidelschies and Nate Shaw both throw in the mid-to-upper 80s and are highly recruited, adding more weapons to a vastly talented team.

“This would’ve been a fun year,” he said. “… I was looking forward to it because I wanted to sneak up on everyone. Everyone’s thinking the cupboards are bare, but I think by the time it was all said and done, these guys would definitely be household names.”