The Aberdeen Smittys will feature a familiar look led by a new name this season.

The squad, which opens its season on Wednesday night in Lisbon, N.D., will be under the guidance of new coach Nathan Gonnelly.

The physical education instructor at Simmons Middle School is no stranger to baseball and also not foreign to the Smittys.

“We played against them a ton,” said Gonnelly, who used to play for Watertown, “so I’m very familiar with them.”

So familiar in fact, that Gonnelly has a firm handle on what he inherits this season. He plans on utilizing that talent to its fullest extent.

“What I’ve been telling these guys is we’re going to throw hard and hit harder,” Gonnelly said. “We’re going to dish it on the mound and we’re going to be able to put the ball in play.”

The Smittys will feature a combination of returning veterans as well as up and coming players. The squad has several players coming back after a year of college, which should help make the transition to head coach a bit smoother for Gonnelly.

“It helps for sure, and we have a young group, too, so it’s kind of nice for them to look to the older guys and kind of see how we do things here, and just kind of build that connection as a team,” Gonnelly said. “It’s really nice to have a big group with a lot of variety.”

Put it all together, and it’s easy to see why there is so much optimism surrounding this year’s club.

“We have a lot of expectations and the bar is set pretty high. We have a lot of talent on this team,” Gonnelly said. “For sure get to the state tournament and make a run for it this year as well. I think we’re going to be a pretty dominant team this year.”

The Smittys will have household names up and down the roster this summer. Guys like Casey Vining, Drew Salfrank, Cooper Eisenbeisz, Zane Backous, Phillip Zens, Talan Deutenhoeffer, and Brendan Livermont.

“We’ve got a whole laundry list of guys who are going to be out there dishing it for us,” Gonnelly said.

The majority of the forementioned players are all accomplished pitchers for Aberdeen.

“Not only that, but they can play a variety of positions, too,” Gonnelly said, “so that kind of helps us in the long run with pitching and things like that.”

The squad has been getting reps, despite a cold, damp and windy spring in recent weeks.

“We practice almost every day,” Gonnelly said. “Rain or shine we’re out here and we actually have the new indoor facility too that we’ve been using, and that’s a huge help this year for us.”

The Smittys will not be full strength for a few more weeks as some of the players are also competing in track and field. Gonnelly is looking forward to bringing them on board.

“We have a couple of gentlemen who are on the team, too, and they’re putting in their work in track and they’re having a good season there,” he said. “We’re just kind of waiting for that to wrap up and we’re going to be our full squad here in a couple weeks.”

Aberdeen will have a competitive schedule once again this season. That includes a multiple day tournament in the Twin Cities where the Smittys will face a variety of unfamiliar opponents.

“We go to the Gopher Classic this year so that will be a lot of fun for the boys,” Gonnelly said. “We’ll actually get to see some more competition from different states, which I think will help us in the long run.”

Of course, a couple of dates will be particularly special for Gonnelly as his new team will face his former team when Aberdeen takes on Watertown.

“It’s going to be good, see some familiar faces and bring it to ‘em,” Gonnelly said. “It’s going to be a very competitive game and I’m looking forward to it.”

Before then, Aberdeen is just waiting to get to full strength and quickly set the tone for the rest of the season.

“We’re going to be hitting the ground running this year and it’s going to be pretty good, just getting some guys some different exposure and game times, and stuff like that,” Gonnelly said. “It’s going to be good once we have the whole squad.”

As fired up as the first-year coach is to have a banner season, Gonnelly said it is also important to keep things in perspective and conduct yourself in the proper manner.

“Just staying positive and realizing that baseball is just a game,” he said. “It’s important and stuff, and it’s important that we stay competitive, but having fun out there I think and having high morals is a big portion of that.”

Gonnelly wants his players to pay attention to detail and take advantage of the finer points of the game.

“Playing small ball when you need to, stealing guys, pinch running,” he said, “there’s just a game within the game that we’re really going to explore this year.”

Aberdeen made it to last year’s state tournament and the goal is much higher than that this summer.

Look for the Smittys to be aggressive in their quest to reach those high expectations they have set for the season.

“Being aggressive is one the top things that we need to accomplish this year,” Gonnelly said, “and I think we’re going to do that with the group of guys that we have.”