By John Cackowski
State Director

Leading up to the start of the high school season, we will count down the top 50 preseason teams every day as part of our comprehensive season coverage. The top 50 teams are picked from all classifications, and are not divided up by class level:

Team: Dawson
Preseason Rank: 47
2016 Record: 18-3
Conference: Mile High
CHSAA Class: 2A
Head Coach: Joe McKenzie
Playoff Run: Won the 2A State Championship

Returning Starters: 4
Returning Pitchers: 2

TOP PLAYERS:
Seth Clemente, MIF, 2017
Cade McClellan, OF, 2017
Chase Fulkerson, INF, 2018
Tucker Heroux, Util, 2019

PLAYERS THAT COULD MAKE AN IMPACT:
Donovan Muniz, INF, 2019
Simon Dodge, C, 2019

KEY PLAYER LOST:
Tanner Fulkerson: Graduated 

X-FACTOR: 
The Mustangs graduated six seniors starters from their 2A Championship. The 2019 grads on the team will have to come in and produce if they expect

STAT RAT:
The Panthers started 2016 off 1 and 3, then went on to win 18 of their next 19 games winning the 2A State Championship

BOTTOM LINE: 
The Mustangs came out of nowhere in 2016 and claimed their first 2A State Baseball Championship. They graduated 6 starters from 2016, however they still bring back quality experience to help defend their title in 2017. Senior Seth Clemente returns. Last year Clemente was one of the top hitters in 2A batting .597 with 11 doubles, 2 triples, and 14 stolen bases. Cade McClellan returns and hit over .300, and sophomores Chase Fulkerson and Tucker Heroux also return. The Mustangs also have some young players in the 2019 class who could make an impact. They will need to nail down who their top pitcher is in 2017, but based on the experience coming back, expect the Mustangs to make a strong push to defend their 2016 2A Title.