If Spanish Fork baseball coach Jim Nelson thinks his team is going to sneak up on opponents, he's wrong.
It appears that nearly every Class 4A baseball coach knows what Nelson has returning from his team that finished 21-6 last year. Instead of sneaking up on other teams, the Dons will be wearing the target.
Nelson's Dons, who were picked to win Region 6, received 12 No. 1 coaches' votes, while Timpanogos, which is coming down from Class 5A, was second with three No. 1 votes.
Rounding out the state's Top 5 are Pleasant Grove at No. 3, Region 4's Mountain Crest at No. 4 and Region 6's Provo at No. 5.
The Dons are solid up the middle beginning with junior catcher John Welsh, who was a first-team all-state selection last year, and senior center fielder Casey Nelson, who is a preseason all-American. Part-time starters Jordan Daley and Thomas Frazier will start at shortstop and second base.
Nelson's pitching staff, with four guys who have thrown 84 MPH or faster, is led by Derek Larsen, who already signed with the University of Utah.
Provo (13-12), Payson and Springville should challenge the Dons. Provo is led by Clay Barnes, who struck out 101 batters and hit seven homers, and Bryce Ayoso. Eric Bills, Aaron Jensen and Casey Miller are three returning performers for Springville, which made a nice run in the Class 4A playoffs last year.
Timpview has strong senior leadership and a good junior class and should improve on its 6-16 record from last year.
First-year American Fork coach Brandon Deveraux inherits a team that won just two games last year.
Timpanogos was a powerhouse in Class 5A last year and the same is expected this year as they make the move down from Class 4A. Coach Kim Nelson had four solid returners in senior catcher Chris Carter (.420), sophomore pitcher Mac Nelson, who had seven wins as a freshman, Spencer Snow, Greg Larsen, Shawn Olsen and Ryder Olsen.
The T-Wolves (20-5) have solid hitting and good team speed, but pitching depth will be the question mark.
Challenging the T-Wolves in Region 7 will be two-time defending state champion Lone Peak, Pleasant Grove, Orem and Mountain View.
The Knights (19-8) were picked to finish fourth in the region, and that may be fair as they lost many key starters. Chris Hunsaker and TJ Christensen are two key returners.
Pleasant Grove has one returning starter in Russ Wall (5-3), and coach Jon Hoover will count on his defense to keep the team in games.
First-year Orem coach Ray McCoy has the Tigers poised to make a run at the title despite a young pitching staff and no returning starters.
Mountain Crest garnered every first-place vote to win Region 4. Ryan Zimmerman, who was 4-1 with a 1.94 ERA, is back as is Nic Eliason, who hit .350.
First-year Roy coach Guy Anderson's Royals were tabbed at a solid second in the region and he has plenty of experience in Marcus Moore, Travis Kester, Shayden Bertagnolli, Bryan Hutzley and Ray Sanchez.
Jesse Larsen, Justin McDermeit, Blake Horton, Jeff Newby and Derek Brown make the Box Elder Bees a contender for the region crown.
Bonneville went 4-10 in region play but has two seniors in Nate Watkins and Brett Ballingham.
In Region 5, Joe Wice, Kyle Huntsman and Joe Ellis make up a solid pitching staff for the Cyprus Pirates, who were selected as the top team in the region. Jon Tate, Reggie Fisher and Nathan Scheurer are also returning starters.
Murray is very young, but coach Bill Siebenberg expects his team to get better as the season progresses. Olympus, which won just seven games last year, has several returning starters led by Joey King and Steve Manookin.
East, with all its starters back, should make a strong run at the crown with all-region performers Pat Zumwalt, Ben Dailey and Alex Theodore.
West is just the opposite. Coach Marce Wilson lost eight seniors, five of whom are playing college baseball. Bountiful has two returning starters, Chris Christensen and Chase Christensen. The Braves are young but have good pitching prospects.
Cody Herrick is a four-year starter for the Highland Rams.
E-mail: jhinton@desnews.com