Chris Lopez is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Marcos de Niza for AZPreps365.com

Marcos de Niza coach Matt Courtney is looking for leadership from his players to push the Padres during the upcoming baseball season. 

"We've got some junior leadership. We got some senior leadership. We are pretty loaded all the way around," Courtney said. "Most of my leadership is coming from the junior level."

The Padres have nine juniors on their 20-man roster and junior Alex Denham is serving as one of three team captains.

Courtney, who went to school at Marcos de Niza, is in his second year as head coach. 

"I've been here for 14 years so it was a pretty seamless transition when I took over last year," Courtney said.

Last season Marcos de Niza finished with a record of 10-8 in the 4A division which placed them at number 14 overall in the rankings. The Padres earned the chance to participate in a conference play-in at Pueblo Magnet, but they were defeated, 6-1.

A strength for the Padres is when they play at home. Last season they had a slightly better record when they hosted teams (6-4). Out of the six wins, four of them were blowout victories in which the Padres scored a total of 45 runs.

Pitching is a puzzle the Padre coaching staff is trying to solve. The Padres are in the process of figuring out mound rotation that will fit into their defensive strategy. Last season the Padres had a 5.68 ERA and if you add that to the loss of their two best pitchers, Matt Bergevin and AJ Montiel, who combined for 94 strikeouts, there is a void left to fill on the mound this season. 

"We are a little short on the mound. We are trying to figure out which guys can go some innings," Courtney said.

The Padres may be short-handed on the mound but they are in a surplus on offense.

Last season the Padres maintained a .310 batting average and a .424 on base percentage, which are both higher than the national average, according to MaxPreps.

"Our hitting, we are really deep with hitting," said Nate Meyer, a team captain. "We can crush one over the fence. We are really good offensively this year."

Senior leadership is not lacking as the Padres have nine seniors on their roster.

Senior second baseman Ethan Galetti, who also is serving as a captain this year, is looking to replace the massive batting hole that Matt Bergevin (.458 batting average, 4 home runs) left behind as Bergevin graduated and went to play at Concordia University.

"He is crazy. He had tons of power tons of pop and he was good pitcher. He did it all," Galetti said.

Galetti last year was second on the team in RBIs (15) and third in hits (22). Galetti hoisted a .333 batting average and a .375 on base percentage.

Another senior who is taking the reins this year is right fielder Nate Meyer.  

Meyer contributed to the hitting success last year for the Padres. He was tied for second on the team in RBIs (15) and also tied for third in hits (22). Meyer had a .333 batting average and .375 on base percentage.

"Everyone does their job. We are a family. We play together," Galetti said.

The Padres will host the Tucson Badgers in their first regular season game at the Adam Donnenfield Memorial Tournament on Wednesday at 3:45 p.m..