The image of being one hit away from a league championship in the final game of the season last year is still vivid in the minds of nine returning varsity players and they are hungry to erase that memory with something of a more savory nature.

"We came so close last year and our goal this year is nothing less than to win league," Pioneer coach Jake Hernandez said. "Those guys returning are hungrier than ever to make it happen."

First team all-league selections seniors Andrew Schulz and Steve Matos and second team all-leaguer junior Shaun Souza leads that group. It also includes returning starters seniors Danny Ventura, Zane Bailey and Mike Kaufmann, senior pitchers Brent Osborn and Robbie Nelson, and utility man senior Justin Kaufmann.

Hernandez is confident that this core of returning players will provide the necessary experience and leadership to set the pace for a successful 2005 campaign. At the same time he is particularly encouraged by the prospects of what will be added to the mix with the arrival of a few new players from the frosh-soph squad.

In particular, Hernandez is looking forward to catcher junior Eddie Hsieh and left-handed pitcher junior Andy Wright pulling on varsity uniforms. Hsieh is solid in his catching skills and his presence allows Schulz, who filled in at catcher all last season, to move back to his regular shortstop position. That in turn allows Ventura to move back to his normal second base slot. With Bailey in centerfield, it gives the Mustangs a solid defense up the middle.

Both Nelson and Osborn have been tied up with duties on the Pioneer basketball team and, as a result, the pitching ranks have been pretty thin in preseason games and caused Hernandez to get a little creative. Junior outfielder Michael Rudolf demonstrated a strong arm so he got the call in a preseason game against Los Altos and came through in fine fashion, picking up the Mustangs' first win of the year and just may of earned himself a spot on the mound from time to time.

Hernandez also singled out two other juniors up from the frosh-soph team, Michael Schulz and Jon Silva, as having potential to contribute significantly. They have been battling it out to nail down a position at third base, but it's been a pretty even battle and both could end up sharing playing time.

It will not be a cakewalk to the Blossom Valley Athletic League Santa Teresa Division title, though, as both Piedmont Hills and Silver Creek should be formidable foes. Both teams have good personnel and Piedmont Hills has talent coming up from last year's first place frosh-soph team.

The Mustangs finished preseason action with a 3-3 mark. They went 1-3 in the Wilcox tournament against some stiff competition before knocking out a pair of 3-2 wins over Santa Teresa and Monte Vista Christian.

Pioneer staged an exciting come-from-behind rally to grab the win over Santa Teresa. The Mustangs were down 2-1 heading into their final at-bat in the bottom of the seventh inning. Rudolf got things started with a one-out double. M. Schulz and Ventura worked their way on with back-to-back walks to load the bases. A. Schulz stepped to the plate and drove a single to right field to score two runs and end the game.

There was more excitement in the game against Monte Vista as Pioneer demonstrated once more that it's not over until it's over.

The Mustangs were scoreless in the first five innings and faced a 2-0 deficit when they pushed across one in the sixth and one in the seventh to send the game into extra innings. With the score knotted at 2-2 in the top of the eighth, Souza got all of one and sent it over the fence for a solo homerun and a 3-2 Mustang win as Monte Vista was unable to rally in its half of the eighth. Pitcher Michael Talovic benefited from the Souza blast as he picked up his first win of the young season.

Pioneer was able to get Santa Teresa Division play under way earlier this week, kicking things off with Silver Creek. It was not a pretty game marred with sloppy play and not much for viewing, but the Mustangs came away with an 8-3 win as they took advantage of some wildness on the part of Silver Creek pitching.

"The game plan was to put the ball in play and put pressure on their defense," Hernandez said. "We were also disciplined at the plate and that paid off."

The Mustangs pushed across one run in the first and five in the third, primarily the result of walks, fielding errors and wild pitching. Bailey put two more on the board with a solid two-run single in the fourth.

Wright (1-1) was on the mound and fired five and a third to pick up his first win of the year. Johnny Carreras gave up two hits in relief. A. Schulz had the hot bat for the Mustangs, knocking out three hits.

Pioneer continued division action with a road trip to Independence on March 8, and then finishes the week at Lincoln on March 10 at 3:30 p.m.