Last season Red Mountain softball won the 2010 5A-I state title with extraordinary pitching and very good hitting.

The Mountain Lions are certainly in the mix -- if not the lead -- to repeat as state champs in 2011. The reason? Extraordinary hitting and very good pitching.

"The offense we have this year is as good as we've ever had," Red Mountain coach Rich Hamilton said. "We have eight kids hitting .400 or better. Most of them have 80 or 90 at-bats.  The least any has of that .400 group is 50 at-bats."

The eight players hitting at a .400 clip or better are Siera Phillips (.489), Brittany Dvorak (.459), Sara Goodrum (.453), Courtney Sherwin (.448); Haley Culley (.444), Marisa Mayes (.443); Ashley Sunderhaus (.402) and Payton Kornfeind (.400).

Hamilton has in that arsenal a mix of slappers and boppers -- what the coaching staff affectionately calls the Rabbits and Rhinos. The Rabbits are the left-hand hitting speed merchants; the Rhinos the husky right-hand hitters. That combination has Red Mountain  averaging 9.3 runs per game with a team batting average of .421. As a team last year the Mountain Lions batted .392.

"Our offense was good last year, very good," Hamilton said. "But with Mel (Willadsen) pitching, well, she was special. We have two good pitchers this year. They are more than adequate. Without some of the dominating pitchers other teams have had the last couple years, it's hard for most  teams to keep us from scoring a bunch of runs."

In a three-game week just prior to spring break, Red Mountain cranked out 44 runs and 63 hits in defeating Basha, Corona del Sol and Marcos de Niza. Seven times this season the Mountain Lions have collected 17 hits or more in a game. Players last year that didn't hit well have seen their offensive game soar. Perhaps the top example is junior second baseman Marisa Mayes, a 224 hitter a year ago (.443 in 2011).

"The way I tried to improve was to hit  every day a I could and play club in the summer," Mayes said. "I've felt more confident in myself.  I'm one of the Rabbits, but  reading the defense is my best tool as a hitter. Not my speed."

Senior Ashley Sunderhaus, one of the Rhinos,  is the toughest of that group to strike out. She's fanned just four times and improved her average some 40 points over last year.

"All of us feed off each other, but when a couple are struggling there are always a couple who pick up the slack,"Sunderhaus said. "What's helped me the most thist year is hitting outside pitches. I'm going with them. It's made a big difference.

The team's home-run leader and runner-up in RBIs is Dvorak, hitting 132 points higher than a year ago. She hit one homer last year and has six this year. She claims the Rhinos work harder.

"It's so easy for the Rabbits," Dvorak said with a broad smile. "All they have to do is bunt or slap. We have to hit the ball."

Offense is easier to come by both for and against Red Mountain. In 2009 when Red Mountain finished as 5A-I runner-up to Basha, the Mountain Lions posted 22 shutouts among its 34 wins. Last year that number fell to 10 shutouts in 36 victories (still good for the first year with the pitching distance 43 feet). So far this year Red Mountain has five shutouts to its credit and has been shutout just once.

The million dollar question for Hamilton and his hit-happy crew is can it take the team to the state title when opposing pitching becomes better come the final four.

"I definitely think it can," Hamilton said. "Every once in awhile our hitting is off, but you don't have to wait long for it to come back. A couple years ago when I started coaching with (assistant coach) Jenny (Gabbel). we figured it would take four runs to wins games. That number isn't four anymore. That's why I like this team's chances."