This year, the Redmond High baseball team is armed and ready to crack the “Safe,” as in Safeco Field, the venue of May’s Class 4A state semifinals.

“Our goals are always the same, we want to find a way into Safeco Field and be dogpiling on the mound at the end if we can,” said Redmond coach Dan Pudwill. “That’s their goal and that’s my goal, but we just have to figure out how to make that happen if we’re lucky enough to make it to the playoffs.”

The defending 4A Kingco champion Mustangs streaked out to a 17-3 record last spring, but fell short of a state trip when they lost 13-7 to Issaquah in the 4A Kingco playoffs.

Redmond lost only three seniors from last season and returns a boatload of talent at multiple positions and on the pitching mound, which bodes well for the Mustangs.

“We’ve got a number of returners, and that’s always nice to have people that have been here before,” Pudwill explained. “We do have a couple of our top arms and bats returning, but we also lost our most productive offensive player last year (SS Brian Grina, .429 BA, 17 RBI).”

CARRY A BIG STICK

The Mustangs return a fair amount of firepower at the plate, led by juniors Dylan Davis and Michael Conforto, who combined for 14 home runs last year.

Senior outfielder Matt Kimmel, the team’s only three-year varsity starter, is another middle-of-the-order power bat for the ‘Stangs and Josh Bircher, the team’s speedy, first-team all-league performer at second base, is always a base-stealing threat.

Pudwill, a proponent of playing “small ball” to manufacture runs, acknowledges that he may have to adjust his offensive strategy with this year’s power-hitting squad.

“We certainly have the potential to do that,” the sixth-year coach said of his team being a power threat. “But I’m going to coach the team that I have and not try to make something out of the team that isn’t there. We certainly will be relying on some of those big bats and power more so than we have in the past, not trying to scratch runs across … with the bunting and small-ball game.”

On the hill, the Mustangs will be led by staff ace Dylan Davis, who posted the fourth-best earned run average (1.41) in school history en route to winning six games last spring.

Backing up Davis will be fellow starter Ryan Beliel — who posted a 2.38 ERA last — and a formidable bullpen anchored by juniors Zach Abbruzza and T.J. Whidby.

NO ROOM FOR ERROR

As solid as his team looks on paper, Pudwill knows that the Mustangs won’t get far if they can’t make the routine plays in a stacked league where an untimely error or two can often lead to a loss.

“It’s playing as solid a defense as we can, that will be the difference,” Pudwill said. “We’ll have solid pitching and match up fairly well with most teams and I think our bats will be some of the most potent in the conference. Whether or not we can catch the ball with any consistency will determine how well we do this year.”

The Mustangs are eager to accomplish the long-standing goal that they fell short of last season: punching a ticket to the state semifinals at Safeco.

“We’ve got a ton of talent, but we need to get everybody to play as one team, one unit, rather than nine individuals,” explained Kimmel, who was on the Mustangs’ last state team in 2008. “I think if we play together we’ll be able to accomplish our goal of winning the state championship.”

Added Bircher, “Team chemistry has always been good with this team. It’s one of our strengths.”

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REDMOND BASEBALL AT A GLANCE

• Head coach: Dan Pudwill, 6th season

• Last year: 14-2, 1st in Kingco, 18-5 overall

• 2010 turnout: 44

KEY RETURNERS

• Sr. Josh Bircher, 2B: First-team all league returner and defensive wizard doesn’t let much get past him. Very quick, constantly on base and a threat to steal.

• Sr. Matt Kimmel, OF/P: Team’s only three-year varsity returner has power at the plate and experience.

• Sr. Ryan Beliel, C/P: Solid returning starter posted 2.38 ERA last year and provides veteran leadership behind the plate.

• Jr. Dylan Davis, P/OF: All-Kingco first-team pitcher had tremendous year on the mound (1.41 ERA) and also blasted six homers last spring.

• Jr. Michael Conforto, SS: Second-half of last season’s “Super Soph” pair with Davis. He was all-league second team and led the league in home runs with eight.

• Jr. Zach Abbruzza, P/INF: Front-line arm and middle-of-the-order bat led Kingco in doubles last year. Verbally committed to play at Gonzaga.

• Jr. T.J. Whidby, P/INF: Should see time on the mound and provide big hits, which he did last year.

TOP NEWCOMER

• Soph. Peter Hendron, OF/P: Strong kid with a good bat has a chance to crack the starting lineup this season. Played varsity basketball during the winter.

DID YOU KNOW?

Ever since taking over the Mustangs’ baseball program in 2005, head coach Dan Pudwill has amassed a career record of 72-20 (.782) in 4A Kingco league play, making the playoffs every year.

COACH’S QUOTE

“It’s still early. At the end of last year they were in midseason form, and now there’s a little bit of rust. They certainly worked hard in the offseason, and I see increased size and strength for sure in a lot of the guys, and that’s certainly a bonus. Some of them worked pretty hard on their swing during the offseason, they’re hitting to all fields a little bit better. I haven’t seen any improvement on the hill yet because it’s so early… but we have some individually talented players. We just need to come together as a team, accept our roles, and focus on our team goals. If we do that, we should have a successful season.” — Redmond coach Dan Pudwill