The 2012 version of the Hornet baseball team is aspiring to roam a bit deeper into the playoff scene this season.

The White River baseball squad cruised to a South Puget Sound League 2A league pennant in 2011 with a 12-2 record.

The team possesses the arsenal to do some serious damage. Williams says that the SPSL 2A promises to be at least as formidable as it was last year and the contingents from Sumner, Franklin Pierce and Eatonville should be depended upon to place plenty of roadblocks in the Hornets’ arduous path to back-to-back league titles. Williams said Fife should be the team to beat in the SPSL 2A.

Though the 2012 Hornets won’t have any senior experience on the roster, they will boast no less than 10 juniors on their club, two of whom are wily southpaw hurlers, Cole Johnson and Ryan Bird.

Meanwhile sophomore right handed pitcher Zach Rohrbach will occupy the third slot in the pitching rotation. Williams contends that he has yet to pencil in a fourth starter, but has a few worthy candidates in mind.

It is doubtful that pitching will be the element that sets the Hornets apart from their foes this season though. Instead it should be a hitting lineup that will be like a murderer’s row and if nothing else will have another year’s experience under its belt.

The majority of White River’s bat strength, at least initially, should come from a predominantly junior infield that includes Tanner Williams at shortstop, Zach Howard, second base and Zach McMillen, catcher, not to mention Johnson.

With the graduation of outfielder Cade Pugmire last summer, Williams said this  outfield may still be under construction by opening day and could be considered a bit of a work in progress. Featured prospects will be junior Garret Robertson, sophomore flyer Matt Salisbury and a handful of other contenders for the outer pasture assignments.