Hunter and Hayden Smith have been baseball teammates since they were 4 years old. As Redmond High seniors, they are looking forward to one last run together.

The twins are among the Panthers baseball team’s stars. Redmond is off to a 4-1 start after a 15-3 five-inning victory over La Pine at the Madras Tournament on March 25. Redmond played one game in the event to fill in for a private school that doesn’t play on Good Friday.

Hunter was an All-Intermountain Conference pitcher in 2015 and will also play catcher and outfield this year, while Hayden was also named first team all-conference as a second baseman.

“We mess around with each other a lot,” Hayden said. “It’s fun playing with your brother.”

They hope to perform even better this year. They want to improve on the Panthers’ 12-14 2015 record (8-8 IMC) and topple Summit, which reached the state Class 5A semifinals.

“Everybody is capable of playing good. Our goal is to make it to state,” Hunter said. “I want to beat every Bend team. Our team is kind of underrated this year. We’re going to surprise a lot of people.”

The team will need to perform more consistently to reach lofty goals, said second-year coach Doug Taylor. The Panthers defeated Class 6A Roseburg 14-4 on March 19 before turning around and falling 9-4 March 21 against Centennial.

“I know we’ve got a pretty good team and can compete with anybody,” Taylor said. “Roseburg is a perennial power, and we ended up 10-running them.”

But the loss to Centennial showed the team can get overconfident, he said.

“After that big Roseburg win, we came out a little flat against Centennial, and it bit us,” Taylor said.

Taylor sees improvement on the team from last season, when Redmond finished third in IMC. He said 13 of 15 players have the potential to pitch, with five or six of them solid starters. That gives the Panthers depth they haven’t had previously.

He also sees the team as more comfortable than the previous season.

“The overall atmosphere is good this year,” he said. “We’ve just got to keep that up.”

Along with Hunter Smith, Taylor expects to get solid pitching innings out of seniors Colton Slavey, Austin Cable, Daniel Stealey and junior Tyler Elliott-Johnson, a transfer from California. Senior Clayton Aas adds a lefty to the staff as well.

“You can go out there and do your best,” Stealey said of the depth. “You don’t have to be perfect every day.”

The race for three IMC playoff spots will be close, but Taylor sees Summit as the team to beat again this season.

“They have pretty much everybody coming back from a team that went to the semis,” he said. “They could be the best team in the state.”

Though most of the players are seniors, the depth can help the team prepare for the 2017 season, when a mandatory pitch count will be in place, Taylor said.

With the season under way, players feel a sense of urgency since most are seniors.

“I think it makes the season more special,” said Cable, who also plays shortstop. “This is kind of our last ride as a unit. We want to make it more special and enjoy every moment we have as a team.”

That holds true for Hunter and Hayden Smith, among four Smiths on the team, along with junior Cooger Smith and sophomore Parker Smith, who aren’t related. After playing together for more than a decade, Hunter and Hayden will go their separate ways next year. Hunter plans to play for Linn-Benton Community College in Albany, while Hayden will try to walk on at Western Oregon University in Monmouth.

“It won’t be that tough,” Hunter said of their separation. “Linn-Benton and Western are only about 30 minutes from each other, so it’s not that far away.”

Redmond’s next game is scheduled for 4 p.m. Friday, at home against The Dalles. Conference play begins 4:30 p.m. Tuesday at Mountain View.

— Reporter: 541-548-2186, gfolsom@redmondspokesman.com