The responses were eerily similar.

From head coach Jordan Nilsen on down, the Bellevue Wolverines are thinking small.

Without a bonafide slugger in the middle of their lineup, Bellevue coaches and players know their best shot at a KingCo title is playing small-ball.

“We have a ton of speed on our team this year, we don’t have a lot of guys that are going to hit home runs all day,” said head coach Jordan Nilsen.

Utilizing that speed with solid base-running, moving runners over by bunting and scratching out runs with timely hitting will be the Wolverines offensive formula in 2011.

“The top of our order does a good job getting on base and we’re just going to have to play situational baseball to move them over and get runs,” said pitcher Jeff Van Orman.

Nilsen and his staff have also made it a point to focus more on the mental aspect of the game, having players study for a couple hours each week to make sure they are aware of their role in any situation that may arise during the season.

“The mental part is going to be one of the biggest things we need to utilize this year,” said Reid Wagner, a senior infielder. “We’re thinking a lot more, being smarter on the base paths and at the plate.”

Playing the so-called “National League” style is no problem for Nilsen, who himself subscribes to the time honored belief that good pitching beats good hitting.

Nine seniors graduated from last season’s team including Alex Bielaski, who is currently on the roster at St. Martin’s College and Riley Smith, a pitcher and third baseman now at Occidental College.

Despite the heavy losses to graduation, the Wolverines’ skipper is confident that his group of returning contributors can fill the leadership void.

“There’s some natural leadership on the team with our upperclassmen,” said Nilsen.

A large portion of that confidence comes from the run his team made in last year’s conference tournament, when they reached the title game before falling to Mercer Island. “Last year, we struggled a little bit during the regular season but we ended up doing very well in the conference tournament,” Nilsen said.

That run to the 3A KingCo tournament final last season has given players and coaches alike reason to believe greater things are on the horizon in 2011.

“Realistcally, we see ourselves competing in every single game,” Nilsen said. “We don’t see a team in this conference we can’t beat.”

David Andrews, another senior and one of three captains for Bellevue echoed his coaches sentiments.

“I just want to finish the year knowinng the we played every game well and obviously, I want to win KingCo,” Andrews said.

To bring home that 3A KingCo title, Bellevue will also rely heavily on their pitching staff, which they hope will eventually be anchored by Jeff Van Orman, a solidly built power-throwing righty.

A California transplant, Van Orman has been unable to pitch for the past two seasons after undergoing Tommy John surgery to repair ligament damage.

He spoke about hopefully getting himself back to 100% before the KingCo season starts.

“I’m coming off surgery so I’m probably 85-90% there,” Van Orman said and added that he hopes to “come in throwing hard and hopefully have an intimidation factor.”

If Van Orman can get himself right physically, he will only add to a staff that Nilsen believes is capable of carrying his team.

“We’re going to win or lose by small margins,” Nilsen said.

Wolverines at a glance:

Coach: Jordan Nilsen, second season

Major Losses: Alex Balasky, Riley Smith

Impact Newcomers: Jeff Van Orman RHP

Key Returners: Connor Foreman 2B, Jack Meggs OF

Crucial Matchups: Monday, April 4 @ Mount Si, 4:30pm; Monday, April 25 @ Liberty, 4:30pm; Monday, May 2 @ Mercer Island, 4:30pm

From the dugout: “Team cohesion and team chemistry is phenomenal. These guys work hard every day as long as they need to. Our ability to play solid defense and hit situationally successfully is going to be the key to any victory we have. If we don’t do the small stuff, won’t win because we just don’t have the big horses to run out, we aren’t going to score 15 runs per game. With all the new faces we’re pretty humble and we hope to play well. If we play our best there isn’t any reason we can’t finish near the top