The Kirkwood Community College baseball team begins its spring 2010 season on March 5 against North Central Missouri College.

The Eagles' opening game will be played in Trenton, Mo.

Kirkwood will be led by sophomore pitcher Patrick Lala. Lala signed a national letter of intent last fall to play baseball at the University of Iowa in the fall of 2010.

Lala is rated as the 65th top junior college prospect in the country, according to Perfect Game Crosschecker.

Last season Lala posted a 3-3 record for the Eagles on the mound, with six saves and an earned run average of 4.86.

Sophomore Brennan Melloy is the Eagles' leading returning hitter. Last season Melloy had a batting average of .350 and an on-base percentage of .518.

The Eagles lose six of their top hitters from a season ago and will look for new guys to fill in the shoes of last season's graduating class.

Kirkwood head baseball coach John Lewis is back for his 31st season. Lewis was recently inducted into the Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame and has tallied an overall record of 1,042-531 in his 30 seasons. The Kirkwood baseball team has finished with a winning record in each of the 30 seasons under Lewis.

Last season Kirkwood went 37-19 overall and 16-6 in the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference.

The Kirkwood baseball team is young this year with 23 freshmen and just eight sophomores. The sophomores will be looked upon to lead the young team through the season.

"Sophomores need to have the ability to lead and show the freshmen they have to work really hard," Lewis said.

The beginning portion of the Eagles' schedule involves a lot of traveling. After starting off the spring season in Missouri, the Eagles play games in Kansas and Oklahoma before heading back to Missouri. Then they finally get to come back home for a five-game home stand.