For the Plano Senior baseball team, District 8-5A play can't come soon enough.

Not because of any sort of boredom with non-district tournaments, but so the Wildcats can see their final product in action after weeks of decision-making with plugging in and shifting players around to see who fits best where.

Plano head coach Rick Robertson hopes the past two days of action in the Frisco Tournament of Champions will answer any unresolved questions.

"We really need this tournament," he said. "We still need to look at a couple things and get them straightened out. We've been getting good pitching and we're playing good enough defense, but our hitting isn't where we need it to be.

"It's early, but we start district on Tuesday so we need to be ready to go right out of the box."

The Wildcats will look to build on the team's deepest playoff run in 12 years -- a 2011 campaign that saw Plano advance to the Region I Semifinals.

"I think just the experience of being in those situations helps," Robertson said, "but some players were in major roles and some weren't. It makes all the difference in the world, being on the team and being on the field."

Plano has graduated seven members of that team, the bulk of which are playing ball in college. Thus, the Wildcats have been tasked with replacing a credentialed cast of contributors, including four of the team's top five hitters.

The current ensemble is still trying to match the lofty standard set last year.

"We're getting hits and hitting the ball well," Robertson said, "but we're still not hitting when we need to: with runners in scoring position and some situational hitting."

Helming the offensive is junior Ryan Thomas, the 2011 8-5A Newcomer of the Year, who belted seven home runs and hit .404 as a sophomore. Senior Matt McLean is back in tow at the lead-off spot, following a junior campaign in which he led the Wildcats in stolen bases. Senior Justin Arrington will enjoy an expanded role, helping anchor the middle infield at shortstop while vaulting up to third in the batting order. Returning seniors Connor Reed and Max Negoslawski add a veteran presence to complement imposing newcomers like freshman Mitchell Hansen and sophomore Ryan Robertson.

As Plano's offense comes along, the team will fall back on the steady combo of pitching and defense for the meantime -- a tandem that helped anchor much of the Wildcats' playoff success last year.

The pitching staff is laden with players who enjoyed sporadic innings last year, the most tenured of which is senior Hunter Raley, who led the Wildcats with five saves in 27 innings in 2011.

Raley will be aided by Reed, Negoslawski, junior Brad Hoeler and McLean.

"I like our starting pitching," Robertson said. "When those guys are on the mound, we're in ballgames."

The same applies to the Wildcats' defensive work in the early going, although the ingredients on who will comprise the infield and outfield are still being decided. Robertson said the conclusion of the tournament in Frisco will go a long way in finalizing who will take the field Tuesday when Plano hosts its district opener against Allen.

It'll mark the first legitimate leg in the Wildcats' defense of the 8-5A title, which they earned a share of alongside Hebron last year. The ensuing postseason success caught the eye of those around the state, as evidenced by a No. 8 preseason ranking Plano earned from the Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association.

Plano put up a 5-2-3 record heading into the weekend's rain-altered event in Frisco.

"We know where we are," Robertson said. "We graduated seven seniors and all of them were major players. When you come off a season like that and people have you ranked, it's unexpected for us because we have so many positions to fill, but I don't think that pressure bothers our guys at all.

"We're a different team and where we are right now isn't where we'll be two weeks from now. I think we're getting better."

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