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<p>MOOSIC &#8212; It&#8217;s going to be hard to forget about what happened at PNC Field last season.</p><p>The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders did something no other team in the franchise has done: Win both the International League and Triple-A National Championship.</p><p>It was a special season to say the least. RailRiders fans had the chance to see top prospects like Gary Sanchez, Aaron Judge and Tyler Austin come through Moosic, and players like Clint Frazier and Ben Heller come to the team midseason at the trade deadline, all en route to a franchise-tying 91 regular-season wins.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re still thinking, we&#8217;re still talking about winning last year. It was a lot of fun &#8212; a special team,&#8221; Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders manager Al Pedrique said. &#8220;A long year, but it was worth it.&#8221;</p><p>At the same time, players like starting pitcher Johnny Barbato are just as excited about the upcoming season and a shot at history. If the RailRiders win the International League again, they&#8217;ll be the first team ever to host the Gildan Triple-A National Championship Game.</p><p>&#8220;I think we&#8217;re going to live up to them,&#8221; Barbato said of the expectations. &#8220;I think that makes it that more exciting. I think the fans and that stuff, all the support we get from them, it&#8217;s exciting. I&#8217;m excited to be here, I think I speak for everybody, and I think we&#8217;re going to do what we did again last year.&#8221;</p><p>Pedrique will once again rely on that player-first atmosphere which proved successful during last year&#8217;s title run. It&#8217;s a style the RailRiders&#8217; team fully adopted.</p><p>&#8220;Have fun, play the game the right way, play hard, and I&#8217;m hoping that everybody will stay healthy and knowing the fact that we might lose some players going up to New York, but we saw that last year,&#8221; Pedrique said of his approach. &#8220;My staff, the way we manage is going to be the same. As long as they prepare the right way, day in and day out, we&#8217;re going to have fun.&#8221;</p><p>Like last season, when the RailRiders supported both the best pitching staff and lineup in the International League, Pedrique believes the team will be just as well-rounded again this year.</p><p>He views big roles for infielders Donovan Solano, Ruben Tejada, Rob Refsnyder, Tyler Wade, Ji-Man Chio and Cito Culver and is excited to see the outfield in action this year. With top prospects Clint Frazier and Dustin Fowler joined by Mason Williams and Mark Payton, Pedrique expects and outfield with a lot of speed that can &#8220;cover a lot of ground.&#8221;</p><p>A potent lineup matches an impressive pitching staff that includes starters Jordan Montgomery, Luis Cessa and Johnny Barbato and relievers Ernesto Frieri and Giovanny Gallegos.</p><p>&#8220;If we have the pitching on a daily basis, it&#8217;s going to be fun watching the defense do their job,&#8221; Pedrique said. &#8220;Offensively, I feel like we have some power in the middle of the lineup and I feel like we have more speed than we did last year. I&#8217;m sure that we&#8217;ll have a well-balanced club.&#8221;</p><p>One of the keys to success last year was cohesion.</p><p>This spring was crucial for guys like Frazier and Heller, who came over to the organization midseason via trades, and for guys like Wade and Choi, who were both at different spots last season, whether it was in Double-A like Wade or in a different organization like Choi. </p><p>&#8220;I think guys are going to go out there and play the game like they did last year,&#8221; Frazier said. &#8220;I don&#8217;t think that anyone&#8217;s going to worry about pressure. I think it&#8217;s just going to be about us going out there and being a cohesive unit and meshing together again.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders faithful will get their first glimpse of the defending champs Monday when Luis Cessa takes the mound to face Lehigh Valley. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_RailRiders3-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders faithful will get their first glimpse of the defending champs Monday when Luis Cessa takes the mound to face Lehigh Valley. </caption0><photoCredit0>Tony Callaio file photo | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_RailRiders2-1-1-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Scranton/Wilkes-Barre manager Al Pedrique and the rest of the RailRiders begin their title defense Saturday in Buffalo. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_RailRiders2-1-1-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Scranton/Wilkes-Barre manager Al Pedrique and the rest of the RailRiders begin their title defense Saturday in Buffalo. </caption1><photoCredit1>Tony Callaio file photo | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By DJ Eberle</p><p>djeberle@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>PODCAST</strong></p><p>Check out Saturday&#8217;s Times Leader Sports Report at timesleader.com. DJ Eberle and Joe Soprano will host their &#8220;Closing Thoughts&#8221; segment at the Home Builders Association of Northeastern PA. SWB RailRiders front office members Josh Olerud and Russ Canzler are stopping by.</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach DJ Eberle at 570-991-6398 or on Twitter @ByDJEberle</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Scanton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders out to defend the realm