Consider the target already painted.

Word is out on the Douglas baseball team. The Tigers took what was supposed to be a rebuilding year, complete with new starters at nearly every spot on the field, and turned themselves into league title contenders.

“We’re excited, we will have a great nucleus coming back,” Douglas coach John Glover said. “Everyone knows what the expectations are.”

With a squad dominated by juniors, a young but experienced pitching staff and a small core of senior leadership, the Tigers didn’t talk about trying to repeat last year’s Sierra League title or appearance in the Northern 4A Regional championship game.

Instead, they threw around phrases like, “We’ll be pretty young,” and “Just hoping to improve.”

Two weeks into the season, after taking a pair of games from a Southern 4A powers Las Vegas and Foothill, the jig was up. This year’s Tigers were going to be just fine.

Douglas rattled off seven wins in its first nine Sierra League games on a front-loaded schedule that included eventual playoff teams Carson and Damonte Ranch.

From there, it was apparent that the Tigers were on a crash course with Reno for the league crown in the final week of the regular season.

“I’m proud of this group,” Glover said. “At the beginning of the year, we didn’t know what to expect. We were just hoping to get to the playoffs. They surprised us, they were overachievers this year all the way.”

The Tigers took wins in 10 of their next 12 games to set up the league title series against Reno, which turned out to be a classic.

Douglas took the opener 6-1, with junior lefty Tyler Hoelzen striking out eight in a complete game effort.

Reno came back, though, to take the league title in a pair of wild, back-and-forth
matchups that were both decided in the final inning.

Douglas got its momentum back in the first round of the playoffs, however, beating Reed 6-5.

High Desert League champ Manogue sent Douglas to the loser’s bracket the next day and Reed came back to upset the Tigers on the third day of the tournament.

Still, Douglas’ junior-laden squad picked up valuable experience for next year and will only have to replace three seniors.

Those three, though, will be missed.

Leading the group was four-year starter Jordan Hadlock, who established himself as one of the top catchers in the area over the last two years and will play for Cal Poly next year.

“He’s one of the greatest kids I’ve ever coached,” Glover said. “Everything we asked him to do, he did.”

Aside from the hole at the plate, Douglas loses Ryan Quenga and Kyle Flagg, both players who saw time in crucial spots during the season.

“You hear a lot about Jordan, but Ryan and Kyle are kids that didn’t get their names in the paper that much and still had a huge influence on this team,” Glover said.

“They worked their butts off every day and it’ll be a tough group to lose.”

Outside of that, Douglas is looking at perhaps the strongest returning group in the Northern 4A.

Starting pitchers Hoelzen, sophomore Michael Whalin and Tyler May, who missed most of this year with a shoulder injury, will all be back.

Freshman Kameron Van Winkle (two home runs, 17 RBIs), who saw time both on the mound and at third base, and Beau Davis are expected to share time behind the plate. Davis became such a strong centerfielder this year, however, that it could end up being VanWinkle’s full-time job.

Hoelzen and Whalin both started at first this season and junior Jeff Crozier (23 RBIs) stepped in as the every day starter at second base.

Tim Rudnick (10 doubles, 30 RBIs) will be entering his third season at shortstop and underclassmen brothers Kyle and Shane Fencl will challenge for time in the middle infield after having some shining moments this year.

Junior Troy Torres (25 RBIs) was the team’s primary designated hitter until VanWinkle went down with a knee injury. He shifted in at third and is expected to be a leading candidate to start there next year.

In the outfield, Davis, May (who had 10 RBIs in just 11 games played), Zach McFadden and Tanner Thomas (six doubles, five triples, three home runs and 23 RBIs) all return.

Reserves Ryan Moglich and Brett Hartley are also expected to contribute after shining in limited playing time this season.

“We’re looking forward to getting going this summer,” Glover said. “We’ll bring some junior varsity kids up and start working with them, but we have probably the biggest group coming back that I’ve ever had. It definitely gives you some hope.”