Dom Santeufemio is back for another season with the Moon American Legion baseball team, but this time he knew he would be coaching.

"The Moon Township Baseball Association had a coach lined up last season, but he quit unexpectedly right before the first game," said Santeufemio, who had previously coached the Moon Legion team from 1995-98. "They called me and I agreed to coach one season."

One season has turned into two seasons.

"I agreed to come back for one more season," said Santeufemio, who returns after leading Moon to an Allegheny County playoff berth and a third-place finish in the Ohio River League.

He is also Moon High School's head coach.

"It gets harder coming off the high school season," said Santeufemio, who has coached at Moon High School for 17 years, including four as head coach. "You have to re-energize yourself for another season."

Moon's high school team posted a 17-6 record this year. The Tigers finished second in Section 3-AAA and advanced to the WPIAL final four before losing, 1-0, to Trinity.

"We had to start our Legion season late due to the WPIAL playoffs," Santeufemio said. "We had to postpone our first six games. We had games scheduled with West Allegheny and Peters Township postponed, along with a game against Elliott since they had kids from Allderdice."

However, rescheduling games has become common place for American Legion coaches.

"We have only played four games," said Santeufemio, referring to Moon's 3-1 record going into the week. "That means we have to play 20 games in just under four weeks. That's a lot of baseball in a short amount of time. Pitching is the key when you have such a demanding schedule."

Santeufemio has used eight different pitcher thus far, including a pair of Moon graduates who are now college players -- Brice Goldbach and Ryan Orlovsky.

"Brice is at Marietta and Ryan is at Coastal Carolina," Santeufemio said. "Both are just pitchers."

Brian Flannery and Brad Schnelle, a pair of Moon High underclassmen who recently completed their sophomore season, are also in the starting rotation. Flannery won seven games for the high school team and Santeufemio said Schnelle won "four or five." Schnelle also plays first and is the designated hitter.

Others who have seen time on the mound are Mike Jefferies, Alex Knox, Scott Liller and Phil Bondi. Knox is an outfielder who pitched five innings out of necessity. Liller is a second baseman who is also used as a relief pitcher. Bondi plays shortstop and Jefferies is just a pitcher.

Tom DeAngelis, Brett Hoffman, Paul Pitaro and Ryan Busch have also seen significant playing time in the infield.

DeAngelis, a Moon grad who plays at Marietta, has seen time at first base, shortstop and third base. His younger brother, Dom DeAngelis, is Moon's catcher.

Hoffman, who recently completed his freshman year, plays third base. Pitaro and Busch share time at first base with Schnelle.

Knox, the left fielder, is joined in the outfield by center fielder Zak Schmidt and the right field platoon of Brandon Buck and Cory Chamberlain.

"Zak is a lights-out defensive player," Santeufemio said. "He is one of the five talented sophomores we had on the varsity team this year."

Also seeing significant playing time are infielder Steve Karaffa and catcher/infielder Mike Quinn.

"We have a team that is capable of making it to the Allegheny County playoffs," said Santeufemio. "The key is to get a contribution from everybody."