HUSTISFORD – Every inning pitched from a year ago is back. As is 90 percent of the at-bats taken in 2008.

That makes sixth-year Hustisford-Dodgeland coach Rich Padron and his Falcons-Trojans confident they can compete for the team’s first conference title since it split it with Johnson Creek and Deerfield in 2006.

“This is one of the best teams I’ve had since I started coaching here,” Padron said of a team that returns 10 seniors, eight of which saw considerable time last year. “Everybody returning has been playing their position for four years now.”

That experience is no more evident on than on the pitching staff where senior Austin Neu was a first-team all-conference pick a year ago and Derek Pieper got a second-team nod. He will play football in the fall at St. Cloud University. They are just two of the four seniors that will lead the pitching staff.

“A lot of coaches would love to have four seniors on the mound,” said Padron. “They compliment each other so well.”

What makes things a bit easier for them is another first-team all-conference pick from a year ago in catcher Wesley Jahnke.

“I have confidence in Wes and so do they to call the right pitches in a certain situation,” Padron said.

At the plate, the Falcons-Trojans had much success last year and another year of experience and seeing pitches has Padron confident that trend will continue. The team has spent the first days of practice focusing on its one weakness in the batter’s box.

“We are a fastball hitting team, but we struggle a bit with the off-speed pitches,” Padron said. “We’ve made an effort to work on that in batting practice and make a point to hit the off-speed stuff.”

With a solid group of underclassmen filling in when needed, Hustisford-Dodgeland is confident it can unseat Deerfield, which was picked by the coaches to finish first in this year’s Baseball Wisconsin Yearbook.

“Some years it’s good to know you have a good group of sophomores and juniors there to fill in when needed,” Padron said.