Redmond Baseball Ready for Run to State Title

Zach Abbruzza tosses his head to the side when asked about the ending of 's 2010 baseball season. The 4A state tournament quarterfinal loss to Federal Way is clearly still fresh in the senior's mind.

"It was heartbreaking. It still leaves a sour taste in our mouths," Abbruzza said of the loss. "To think about going out that way — we don't want to feel that way again this year."

The 2010 season may be irreversible, but the good news for the Mustangs is that the 2011 incarnation of the team is talented enough to avenge last season's loss.

Redmond is led by the senior trio of Abbruzza, Michael Conforto and Dylan Davis. All three have inked letters of intent to play Division I ball — Conforto and Davis at Oregon State, Abbruzza at Gonzaga — and all three, along with fellow seniors Colin McBride and T.J. Whidby, are determined to finish the 2011 season in a different manner.

"It was a learning situation," Davis said of 2010's end. "We know now; we're older and wiser."

Mustangs head coach Dan Pudwill, in his seventh year at the helm, is also optimistic about his team's chances at the school's first state championship since 1993, but he cautions that he thought the same thing about last year's squad.

"I felt like it was last year," Pudwill said when asked if he thought this year's group had the best chance to win a state title. "You never know — a variety of things can happen in a baseball game on any given day."

Still, something seems appropriate about this year's squad ending up in the top position. Redmond returns eight varsity players from 2010 — five starters — and has its top two pitchers and top four hitters returning.

"This group has as good a chance as any group that I've ever had here," Pudwill said.

Being one of the top teams in state is nothing new for the Redmond baseball program, as the Mustangs have reached the state quarterfinals three of the past four years. But this year may be put a different kind of target on the Mustangs.

Conforto and Davis were featured in an ESPN.com story, and the team is ranked in the ESPN Fab 50. Coforto and Davis are both candidates for the 2011 MLB draft; Davis is rated the number 57 prospect in the nation by Baseball America, while Conforto checks in at 68.

"I think it would be silly to pretend that we didn't," Pudwill said when asked if his team had a target on its back. "I talk to guys about that — we're not going to ignore the elephant in the room. Because of some of the attention we've been getting, other teams, other coaches are going to pay attention to that ... we'll be a litmus test for a lot of teams for determining how good they are."

If the Mustangs are to avoid any big upsets along the way, the key will end up being their hitting prowess. Redmond can rake with the best of them, featuring four hitters that hit for a .315 or better average in 2010, including top slugger Davis, who finished last season with a .438 batting average to go along with 11 home runs and 37 RBI's.

"There's only probably a handful of lineups in the state that are comparable to the collection of hitters that we have in this lineup," Pudwill said. "We have good pitching (and) defensively we're pretty sound, but if we're special in any one area, it's going to be as hitters."

Redmond will be tested early in the season with some strong non-conference opponents, including 3A Shorewood, which has three players committed to D-I ball, and Southridge, which Pudwill also describes as having "three or four guys" with D-I talent. The Mustangs will then face a difficult conference schedule that includes Newport, Issaquah and fellow state tournament participant Skyline.

"Our half of KingCo is really tough," Pudwill said. "It's just a good conference to be in."

Redmond still has to play the season before the state tournament even becomes a possibility. But if the players' early season thoughts are any indication, finishing at the top will be the goal from the start.

"The goal is always to win a state title," Davis said. "But this year, we know, is probably the best year out of the last three years that we've had. We just want to bring it home. The final year, we want to go big." 

The Mustangs' first home game is at 6 p.m. Monday at .