BURLINGTON – All eyes will be on the Burlington Catholic Central baseball team in the Midwest Classic’s Southern Division again this season.

The Hilltoppers will also wear the bulls-eye that comes with not only winning the WIAA Division 4 state title a year ago, but three of the last five crowns.

It’s a problem coach Tom O’Connell – and most coaches for that matter – would love to have to deal with.

“I like when that happens,” O’Connell said. “It gets the kids to step up their intensity and bring their best efforts to the field. That’s what we’re here for.

“I like to have that competitive edge everyday in practice to help push the kids.”

It’s that high level that helped the Hilltoppers finish the season 13-4 last year to claim another WIAA Division 4 state title.

They’ll go in search of another this year with many of the same faces back and at the same time still look young on paper as there are just three seniors on the roster.

“They’re all a year older and quite a bit bigger,” O’Connell said of the offseason work the boys did, which included a run at a WIAA Division 7 state football title in the fall. “We’re not a huge team by any means, but we’re definitely a lot wider this year.”

The strength of the Hilltoppers starts on the mound with sophomore righty Rex Morrow returning as the team’s ace after throwing a one-hitter in the sectional finals and another one-hitter at the state tournament.

He’ll have seven returning starters – filling just shortstop and one outfield spot –  coming back on defense behind him which should mean fewer errors in the field, but the most important could be the one setting up shop in front of him in sophomore catcher Nick Uhen.

The theme on offense will be speed and contact for Catholic Central, which lost just two of its top hitters to graduation.

“Our team speed with be better than last year,” O’Connell said. “We try to be an aggressive ballclub.”

O’Connell said he spends a lot of time, especially this early in the season focusing on the psychological side of the game as the team tries to avoid the 1-8 hole it put itself in a year ago.

Add to the fact, according to the Baseball Wisconsin 2009 Yearbook, the coaches around the conference have picked a formidable Shoreland Lutheran team to finish ahead of the Hilltoppers in the standings, and the Hilltoppers have the necessary motivation.

“That’s our big conference rival and it’s been back and fourth with them for the most part when it comes to winning the conference the last nine years,” O’Connell said of the conference race. “We do a lot of work on the psychology of the game. We remind them daily what happened last year and what it takes to avoid that.”