Higley's senior heavy team is coming off of a 13-14 season and looking to make a big leap into state championship contention.

“Every day we have a chance to come out and do the best we can do and win every game possible,” said senior captain Mason Gehling. “I feel like there is no one out there in 5A that we can’t beat, it’s going to be hard every day but if we play hard every game, we’ll be able to win.”

The Knights open up the 2019 season on Thursday with a doubleheader against Buena and Mountain View Marana.

The Knights only lost one senior and feature 11 seniors. Theyalso added players who transferred to the school. 

“They understand the little things and what I’m expecting, and it allows us to get deeper into more advanced type of stuff,” said coach Kevin Clouser. “When I got here two years ago they were 5-22 and we had to really get back to basics and talk about catching, throwing and hitting. I think we’ve built a base in those areas and we’re able to start to talk about different levels of execution and really getting into some higher-level stuff.”

Clouserdoesn't have the win-state-or-bust mentality but to compete and put in the work day in and day out.

“I’d consider a successful season if we show up every day and play our best,” said Clouser. “We don’t have to win a state title to have a successful season, although we are talented and we expect to back to the playoffs and we expect to win a couple games and see what happens.

"Our success isn’t going to be based off if we take home a trophy, it’s going to be more about achieving our personal goals, competing every day and continuing to raise the bar for Higley baseball. When the dust clears at the end of the season, we can look at ourselves in the mirror and say that we’ve done all that we can do.”

Gehling and Charles Hawley, the senior captains, rely on each other and the rest of the seniors to set an example for the younger players who will fill their shoes after the end of this season.

“We come here every day and we set up the field and be role models for the younger kids,” Hawley said.