By STEVE MAZZONE

Sports writer

WOONSOCKET - A few weeks back, Navigant Credit Union coach Jim Gauthier was not sure what was in store for the upcoming American Legion season.
He learned at the beginning of June that he would be without twin brothers and star catcher and pitcher Josh and Ryan Pangborn, the recent graduates of Mount St. Charles  who are leaving for the U.S. Naval Academy later this month. It was also up in the air whether key hurlers and 2008 Woonsocket High grads Jim Castonguay and Justin Rainville would be coming back.
“Jim hadn’t pitched in a year and Justin had surgery on his shoulder,” Gauthier said. “We really didn’t know what to expect.”
Luckily for Gauthier he didn’t lose Castonguay or Rainville, who have both returned to the Woonsocket-based squad this summer. He also has quite a bit of other quality players that have suited up.
What has transpired in the first week and a half to begin the season are three comeback victories and a quick 4-0 start. Navigant’s most recent outing was a doubleheader sweep of Shield Post 43 and Providence Post 49 this past Tuesday at Renaud Field.
“They have come out of the chute a lot quicker than we thought,” Gauthier said.
Last year’s team finished a respectable 15-5 in the league and was ousted in the first round of the playoffs. Whether or not this season’s bunch can equal or surpass that mark is still a big question.
Rainouts (three so far) coupled with an already tight schedule has stopped Gauthier from making any sort of predictions.
“Normally I would say maybe,” he said. “but with the schedule and the rainouts we are getting hammered with games. Pitching will be a premium when  you have to play five games a week. What we learned the last few years is we have to prepare for the playoffs and a nine-inning game. We have to get our pitchers prepared to pitch nine innings and build their arm strength gradually.”
Navigant is well-armed on the mound, according to Gauthier. The heart of the rotation includes Castonguay,  Matt Okruta, Matt Ledoux, Joe Freitas and Rainville. Okruta, a 2007 graduate of North Smithfield, is also the team’s starting shortstop. Rainville showed in Navigant’s season-opener against R&R Construction on June 9 that his shoulder appears to have mended well. He pitched four innings of no-hit, no-run ball in an eventual 10-3 win.
In his first start in more than a year, Castonguay looked in control with seven strong innings against Shields on Tuesday. Ledoux,  a lefthander who starred at Woonsocket this past spring, earned the win in relief of the Shields’ game and then got the save versus Providence striking out four in three innings of no-hit ball.
Second baseman and leadoff hitter Tyler Brien, catcher Derek Mayer and centerfielder Melvin Torres are a few other players among a long list that Gauthier figures to make an impact.
“Tyler’s hitting the phenomenal in the first four games,” said Gauthier of Brien, who just completed his sophomore season at Woonsocket. “He’s also very solid at second base.”
Torres, who will graduate from Woonsocket tonight, was considered by his peers to be one of the finest outfielders in the entire league during the high school season. He’s picked up where he left off.
“He’s struggling a little bit with his bat, but in the outfield I have yet to see anyone in centerfield at the high school level that’s better than him,” Gauthier said. “He can track any ball down. He’s just amazing.”
Mayer is filling the void that was created when Josh Pangborn was unable to return because of his commitments with the Naval Academy.
“Derek caught for us last year on a back-up basis,” Gauthier said. “We didn’t know what we’d get. He’s been phenomenal so far.”
In its four games thus far, Navigant has had to rally back in all but one of them to pull out the win. In the opener against R&R, Navigant was down 3-0 in the fifth inning and scored 10 runs in the last few innings to snare the victory.
“There’s no quit in the dugout,” Gauthier said.
Hoxsie Cleansers, which is composed of player from Bishop Hendricken, the perennial and current Division I champions, and Shields Post 43, another Warwick club that this year has seven college players on the squad, are the teams to beat, says Gauthier.
He also believes there’s a few tough ones that his squad will have to contend with right here in the Blackstone Valley area. Cumberland Post 14, which features players from Lincoln High, and Collette Vacations Post 79, a Pawtucket-based squad that has players primarily from St. Raphael, Tolman and Shea, are among those teams.