LIONS AT A GLANCE

• COACH: Glen Walker, ninth season

• LAST YEAR’S RECORD: 15-10 overall, SPSL 3A co-champions with a 11-4 record. Eliminated in district playoffs

• TOP RETURNERS: Jeffery Morgan, senior, centerfielder; Mason Cerrillo, senior, leftfielder; Justin Marsden, senior, pitcher; Ikaika Nahaku, senior, infielder/pitcher; Hudson Byorick, senior, outfielder; and Jared Gray, senior, pitcher/infielder.

• OUTLOOK: Just two years removed from their state championship season in 2013, the Lions are once again poised to make noise in the 3A ranks.

This year’s squad features seven returning starters, including last year’s Auburn Mountainview Player of the Year, Cerillo – who hit .380 last season with 22 RBIs, four triples, five home runs and a .633 slugging average.

“We bring back a solid defensive core of players and with the addition of our new players we will again be very good defensively and on the bump,” said Walker. “We have 10 seniors on this team, some moving up from junior varsity laste year and some returning from the 2014 varsity team.”

Walker added that the addition of several new players to the varsity squad will strengthen the team defensively.

“So far this spring we are looking much stronger offensively than we’ve ever been,” Walker continued. “We have a good combination of speed and power in our lineup and hope to score a lot of runs this year.”

Ultimately it will come down to pitching for the Lions, Walker said.

“I beleive that pitching will again be the deciding factor on how we finish this year,” he said. “Wew have four or five quality pitchers who have the ability to be very good. If they compete on the hill this year, we will be tough to score runs against.”

• KEY DATES: The Lions again play in the High School Baseball Classic at Safeco Field, taking on Newport on April 4. The Lions take on Bonney Lake, the 3A state runner-ups from last season, on April 29 and 30, before closing out the season against district rival Auburn on May 4 and 5.