Getting-to-know-you activities haven’t been a part of Friday Harbor High School’s baseball’s first week of practices – these boys have been playing together since childhood.

“This is a good group,” head coach Jon Smith said affectionately while watching the players warm up. “They’ve grown up together, in essence. This particular team gets along really well – most of these kids were on the team last year.”

With only four new faces, the comfort level was clear as the boys eased into practice in the sunshine. Seniors Mason Smith and Triston Bremer were right at home, tossing the ball back and forth and ribbing their teammates for being nervous in front of a reporter. The third senior, Marcos Soto, was out of town that day.

“We’ve got less people here this year but I like this group a lot,” Mason Smith, second baseman and catcher, said. “Everyone is really motivated. This team feels combined. Together. I like the effort everyone is giving.”

Bremer, who plays outfield, first base and pitches, nodded to the departing seniors of the year before in his comments as well.

“We’re going to miss them,” he acknowledged. “But it’s exciting to step into this role.”

Coach Smith noted that the transition into senior roles isn’t new for most of these boys as they’ve been playing other sports all year.

“They’ve been playing football, basketball – other sports,” Coach Smith said. “We’re just knocking the baseball rust off. But they’re back on the field, and that feels good.”

When asked about potential challenges, both Coach Smith and Bremer shook their heads.

“It’s too early for that!” Coach Smith laughed. “Hard to tell in the four days we’ve been practicing.”

“I don’t think we are going to face many challenges this season, honestly,” Bremer said. “We work really fluently together. Most of us grew up playing together, and that makes it feel easy.”

The team came together for a photo, and Coach Smith pretended to jump in front of them for the first row to catch him. The sun in their eyes, the dirt on their cleats, the boys laughing at their coach who they obviously respect and feel comfortable with – four days of practice doesn’t seem too early to predict that this team has a good trajectory for 2025.

“As a coach, I couldn’t ask for a better situation,” Coach Smith said. “These boys show up every day with a great attitude and have fun playing baseball together. Last season, we were one game away from playing in the State tournament. I think this group has what it takes to make it into the State tournament, and I am excited to see just how far we can go.”