FRANKFORT - In 2015, the Adena Warriors' baseball program put together a successful season — depending on who you ask.

Adena finished the regular season at 19-4 overall with a gold ball after piecing together a 14-0 Scioto Valley Conference campaign. But in a Division III sectional final, the Warriors stunningly fell 3-2 to Southeastern, ending a tremendous year on a bitter note.

But that was last year and this is this year. With newly hired head coach Tom Barr, who is in his first coaching job, it's officially a new day in Frankfort. But that doesn't negate the humongous target on the Warriors' backs.

"Our guys are embracing their expectations this year," Barr said. "We want to see the opponent's ace and we want to have that target on us. You can take that as a negative or a positive and our guys have chosen to take it as a positive. We respect other teams but we don't fear them. We've got a bit of a chip on our shoulder because we're not happy with how things ended last year. We're working hard every day to get better. That's the goal."

While Barr has the pleasure of welcoming back loads of talent, his Warriors have also gone through an injury bug early. Senior shortstop, Andrew Woods has been ruled out for the entire 2016 season after back surgery while juniors Gunnar Free and Hunter May will be out 2-3 weeks with their own injuries.

The leaves the Warriors with a 17-man roster — 14 of which are healthy and active. Among those in good health are seniors Collin Cory, Jonathan Thomas, and Braden Wilburn.

Cory (P/IF) looks to be Adena's leadoff hitter while Thomas (P/IF) make a home in the three-hole. Wilburn (1B) will cash in on Cory and Thomas' success in his cleanup spot. Junior centerfielder Hayden Henness and sophomore pitcher JD Blevins have been filling the remaining top five spots in the Warriors' batting order.

"We've hit the ball well and I think we've only laid down one bunt in two scrimmages against Chillicothe and Miami Trace," Barr said. "It's not that we're not going to play small ball but I don't feel like we have to in order to win ballgames. We're going to pull our weight at the plate. This team has the ability to score runs with its speed, bats, and the longball."

Junior Bo Dratwa (C/DH), senior Trenton Howard (3B), junior Jake Dawson (RF), senior Tommy Preston (LF), and junior Russ Throckmorton (C) round out the remaining starting lineup spots; as of now. However, seniors Cy Carroll and Cody Cottrill, junior Josh Morgan, and sophomore Skylar Reisinger will all be in the mix as well.

"We've made some sloppy mistakes in our scrimmages but our defense will be solid," Barr said. "We've got good technique and we've put a lot of time in defensively. Our success will start on the bump as we bring back a lot of arms. We have Collin Cory, Cody Cottrill, Jonathan Thomas, and JD Blevins all back. That's essentially all of our pitchers from last year."

Still, even with the returning talent, Barr has his players thinking about last year's season-ending loss. With a revamped schedule, the Warriors will be getting better each and every game; win or loss.

"We're playing a very competitive schedule outside the SVC this year to get ready for the postseason including our last scrimmage, Saturday, against Division I Hilliard Davidson," Barr said. "We also have regular season games against teams picked to be at the top of their leagues in Wheelersburg, Jackson, Meigs, and Alexander."