Heading into April Allen Kawaguchi knew he was in for an interesting baseball season. As the head coach of Northridge High School’s baseball team, he entered the 2009 season with a roster full of fresh meat. Last season, the Knights boasted one of the highest scoring teams in the state, fueled by 11 seniors that have all since departed, but this year the young Northridge roster is making some noise yet again.

“Only two players came back this year that had any real varsity experience,” Kawaguchi said. “Last year we were pretty much all seniors, so it’s pretty much a new team.”

Despite their youth, the Knights are sitting in second place in Region 1, trailing only Viewmont High School, the perennial region powerhouse. Boasting nearly 10 runs per game, Northridge has coasted through its region schedule, dominating many Davis County foes in the process.

Less than two weeks ago, over a span of four days, Northridge went 4-0 in region play, outscoring their opponents by a combined score of 43-5, including a 17-0 whooping of Syracuse High School and a 13-0 shutout over rival Clearfield High School.

“Even though these kids didn’t play much last year, we knew at the junior varsity level they could win,” Kawaguchi said. “Last year we hit a lot of home runs, but this year we are moving guys around with simple hits when guys are in the right position to score.”

One of the players leading the charge for Northridge is starting pitcher and first baseman Chris Abbott, who currently has a batting average above .500. Against Clearfield on Apr. 23, Abbott was perfect at the plate, going 4-for-4 along with four RBIs.

Kawaguchi said despite Abbott’s hot bat, he is making his biggest contribution on the mound. Through Apr. 30 Abbott holds a 5-2 record, including a one-hitter in the 17-0 win over Syracuse.

“His left arm is definitely valuable,” Kawaguchi said. “We need him on the hill right now, but at any given time we still have five guys I’m comfortable putting in instead.”

Comfortable might be an understatement for Kawaguchi, who also has the arm of Kolton Mahoney who already has a no-hitter under his belt this season, which came in the 13-0 win over Clearfield.

Fueled by a solid pitching staff and a small-ball roster at the plate, Northridge had the chance to make a late-season push for the Region 1 title when they took on Viewmont for a two game series last week. Northridge fell in both games, but did so by only one run in each, losing 6-5 on Apr. 28 6-5 and 7-6 two days later.

“It was a good game (game two) that came down to the wire,” Kawaguchi said. We had a 3-0 lead and they scored four on us in the eighth inning. We had a chance to tie it up or even win but came up just short. Take your hat off too Viewmont though … they are a heck of a team.”

Kawaguchi said despite the late-season losses, he is optimistic about his team’s potential to win games in the 5A state playoffs.

“A break here or there and we could have easily won both of those last two games,” he said. “We’d probably be in first-place heading into the playoffs, but I told them with hard work, good things will happen.”

The Knights have also enjoyed a sizeable attendance at their home games, boasting several hundred fans per game.

“The support has been excellent,” Kawaguchi said. “The attendance has been phenomenal and it’s no surprise to me, because the student body around here is pretty close. It’s definitely a fun atmosphere.”