For the second straight season the Grandview Park Baptist baseball team is off to a fast start but this time it is not a surprise. In 2005 the Defenders finished with a record of 17-3 and coach Geoff Lane says the program had only 14 players from grades eight through 12. This season they stand 16-2 and are ranked tenth in 1A in the latest Radio Iowa/Coaches poll.

Lane says they have 23 kids out this year with 14 dressing for varsity. He says they’ve carried over their success from last year and have worked hard to make themselves better than they were last year.

Lane says this is a more veteran squad and the defenders have done well against bigger schools. Their only losses to date have come against 4A Southeast Polk and class 3A tenth rated Saydel. He says they didn’t have any seniors last year and this year only have three, so they’re still very young.

Lane says they would love to make it to their first-ever state tournament but right now they are focused on more immediate things. Lane says they just want to show up and get better and then the results will be that they make it to the tournament. The Defenders return to action tonight against Collins-Maxwell-Baxter.