Minutes after the Runnin’ Rebels vanquished their latest opponent, a 20-3 evisceration of the defending Montana state champion Billings Royals on Wednesday afternoon, head coach Nick Sorrell went to chat with the Royals’ coach, David Swecker.

“What do guys hit, like, .800 against us?” Swecker joked. “You guys see the Royals show up and just go?”

“I don’t know what to say,” Sorrell said later, smiling as he reflected on the conversation and the blistering season his team is delivering.

Where do we start to capture this Runnin’ Rebels campaign? The short way is to describe their two wins over the Royals this summer, a 16-0 clobbering in Billings and Wednesday’s football score win in Pocatello. On their way to a 28-6 record, which is where they stand ahead of their doubleheader showdown with the Idaho Falls Bandits set for July 14, the Runnin’ Rebels have made mincemeat of just about everyone on their schedule.

How they’ve done so, well, we could write a novel on that topic. To keep things concise, consider this: These guys’ lineup is about as deep as it gets at this level.

The names and numbers read like an all-star roster. To wit: Catcher Martin Serrano is now hitting .441, with a 1.162 OPS to pair with 16 extra-base hits and 48 RBI. Luke Davis, a 2022 Highland grad and current Treasure Valley player, is batting .429 with three doubles and 25 RBI. Outfielder Mack Evans, a CSI signee, is slashing an absurd .425/1.137/.613. Everyday third baseman JD Gunderson, who is headed to Oregon Tech, is hitting .415, with nine extra-base hits and 25 RBI.

At the risk of numbing your mind with more numbers, we have to mention two more players before we get to anyone on the roster hitting under .400. Those are Treasure Valley signee Gunner Wilhelm, who is batting .413 to go with 16 extra-base hits, and Mesa CC signee Jayce Vaughan, owner of a .400 batting average and 11 extra-base hits.

Take a breath. That’s a lot of guys. That’s to make no mention of guys like newcomer Ryan Foltz and Treasure Valley signee Kaden Knowles, but the point is this: Good luck finding a hole in the Runnin’ Rebels lineup.

“Well, let me say this: It makes it hard as a coach to make a lineup,” Sorrell said. “Because any lineup that I throw out there, we can win with, is what my mentality is, my thought process. So it’s a matter of, OK, how do I get enough innings for everybody to do this, and to make sure that we’re ready here in three weeks? That’s the hard part. But knowing that I can throw anybody out is nice.”

Here is where you might be thinking something like this: Wait, wouldn’t that make it easy for Sorrell to put together lineups? Well, take it from him. His team keeps dominating, but that isn’t always Sorrell’s goal when he arranges lineups. He has to think about other factors: The Runnin’ Rebels had played a lot of games recently. Some guys need rest. Others have nagging injuries.

“So I take that into consideration,” Sorrell said. “Just trying to keep a lot of these guys engaged, so that if they do get called upon in a situation, they’re ready to go. That’s my whole job as a manager, is to make sure this team is ready.”

That’s the thing with this year’s Runnin’ Rebels team: These guys might look like the best team every time they take the diamond, and most times they are, but to them, this season is about making up for the previous one. Last summer, the Runnin’ Rebels fell to Idaho Falls in the AA state championship game. They’ve spent this summer making sure they’re ready to exact revenge when the time comes.

Thing is, that time is coming soon. The state tournament kicks off later this month. The Runnin’ Rebels can’t know for sure where they’ll be when it ends. It doesn’t hurt, though, to sport the lineup they do.

“They have the mentality where we’re gonna go in, doesn’t matter who we’re playing. We’re gonna go attack,” Sorrell said. “They’ll be aggressive. We’re gonna take care of business because there’s gonna come a time where it’s gonna be a tight game, and we’re gonna need people to step up. But our mentality doesn’t change. It’s the same approach all the way through. That’s what nice about these guys.”