The baseball boys are back for the Enumclaw High Hornets and it is lining up to be a very good season.

The Hornets have solid returning players and both on the mound and at the plate.

Coach Eric Fiedler is entering his ninth year leading the Hornets and 17th year of coaching. He has taken teams to the state championship game three times, winning one. In 2010 Fiedler led the Hornets to a third-place finish in the state tournament.

One of the top players returning for Enumclaw is senior Bryce Peterson who will be holding down the outfield, pitching and hitting in the middle of the lineup.

“If there is a five-tool guy in high school it is Bryce,” Fiedler said.

Shayne Sanborn will also be covering ground in the outfield and throwing from the hill. He is a left-handed pitcher and hits right. He will be batting at the top of lineup.

Sophomore Blake Hildebrand will work as a pitcher and infielder. Fiedler said the talented sophomore has verbally committed to play at Washington State University.

Mytchell Johnson will also be throwing for the Hornets again the season. With Johnson and the rest of the pitching crew, Enumclaw should be formidable in the South Puget Sound League, 3A, which includes the 2013 state champion Auburn Mountainview and Bonney Lake, which took fifth in state.

“We look like we have experience,” Fiedler said. “This is the toughest league in the state. We didn’t win a ton of games last year but we can surprise (this year).”

Fiedler said his team was able to get outside Friday and Saturday.

“We are still in the competing mode,” Fiedler said. “We are still developing.”

Enumclaw opens its season at 7 p.m. Friday at home against Federal Way and the battle with cross-river rival White River is at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Osborn Field.