It’s April 2018. Corona del Sol boasts one of the best baseball teams in Arizona, and is looking forward to a long run in the playoffs.

Then they lose in the first round.

“I think we took it a little bit for granted,” junior David Utagawa explained. “Being seeded No. 2 in the tournament and losing first round was a wake-up call.”

While Aztecs head coach Dave Webb was more forgiving, blaming “a perfect storm” of misfortune for their elimination, he also says it will push his team forward this season.

“I think they have not forgotten that loss,” he said. “They talk about it a lot. They are 100 percent driven to get further this year than last year, whatever it takes.

“It’s a hard-working group. They work for what they get and to have it end so quickly when they didn’t expect it is something that’s really stuck with them.”

Hunger isn’t the only thing. Last season, six sophomores were regularly starting for the varsity team. Coach Webb described them as playing “above their head,” but returning as juniors, they’re now getting attention from top colleges.

Four of them have joined seniors Daniel Sotelo and Brian Kalmer in committing to Division 1 schools. Their destinations range from Oregon State to Grand Canyon University. Just last week, Utagawa made a verbal commitment to play for the Northwestern Wildcats.

“I try not to tell everyone ‘we’ve got six D1 guys, six D1 guys’,” Webb said. “I really try to stay away from that.”

Despite the humble approach, the Aztecs are being noticed on the national stage. In April, they will travel to the National High School Invitational, hosted by USA Baseball in North Carolina.

“North Carolina’s really exciting,” said Kalmer, who will be playing for Arizona State next year. “We’re going to face some really good competition and overall it’s going to make us a lot better as a team.”

The tournament also brings a lot of Corona’s coaches back to USA Baseball, where they’d previously taken charge of various youth national teams.

“I have five medals,” Webb said of his time with the national teams, before pointing at the rest of his staff. “He has five medals. He has four medals, and our freshman coach, who used to be the head coach here, he has three or four medals.”

In addition to the skill on the field and the experience in the dugout, this team is very close with each other.

“I feel like this team is really special,” four-year starter Sotelo said, “because it’s all guys that we grew up with and played with all of our lives.”

“I’ve known coach Webb since I was 10 or 11,” Utagawa said. “I played club baseball with his son, so he was one of the dads on the team.”

All of this adds up to bold predictions for the season. “It’s as good as any team we’ve ever had. Easily,” Webb said. “The team that won it in 2009, that edge, that competitive edge that team had -- this team has it in them. If they realize that potential, and that competitive edge, I think this will be a special year for them.”

Ten years on from their last state championship, the Aztecs rally around the word “uncommon," which is emblazoned on the back of their shirts. It reflects Webb's emphasis on the players' actions off the field. Yet with all the pieces coming together on the field, the team may be about to represent that in their play as well.