Monterey — For No. 1 seed Monterey High School baseball, it’s all about “the now.”

Head coach Eric Richard preaches the present, and senior Dillon Smith and juniors Kade Passman and Jake Cooper reflect it.

After claiming a No. 9 seed in last year’s postseason and climbing the polls to No. 1 in this year’s regular season, Richard took an approach similar to Alabama’s Nick Saban, involving a coaching tactic that preaches the process rather than the end result.

“Every coach has his own philosophy, but you also take from others, especially from those that are successful,” Richard said. “It’s good because it allows clubs to not get caught up in success. So far, it’s helped this group.”

Richard adopted the “how can we improve today?” mentality and drilled it into the minds of his players after the 24-seed Grand Lake Hornets upset the Wolves in the first round last season.

Mirroring that philosophy not only in terms of actual play on the field but in their lifestyle, Smith, Passman and Cooper each play for the moment. Described as a great sports-oriented team by their coach, the Wolves eat, sleep, and breathe sports, with mud riding and trips to Taco Bell serving as a change of pace every now and then.

“What do we do for fun? Easy, we play baseball,” Passman said.

Currently, that dominates each player’s down time, and Smith said they’ve played together since they were 4 years old, advancing leagues with the same group year after year.

“Once you start playing Dixie Youth, you’re here for good,” Smith said.

As for watching television or movies, each player said they rarely take the time to do so, as most of their time is spent either in the classroom or on the field.

“I don’t even have a Netflix,” Passman said.

Unlike most teams, the Wolves boast two aces in the hole with Passman and Cooper.

Passman and Cooper might as well be named “pitcher 1A” and “pitcher 1B” on the club, as both throw from 83-85 m.p.h., both have strong command and both have dominated their opponents this season, allowing Monterey to finish the regular season with an 18-4 record.

“You’re going to get pretty much the same stuff between the both of us,” Cooper said.

When it comes to the curveball, Passman gave Cooper the nod, but Cooper was quick to give Passman the credit for better control.

Richard has full faith in his one-two pitching punch, and he believes it gives his team an edge in the playoffs.

“It gives us confidence that both can go out and compete at a high level,” Richard said. “Both give us a great opportunity to win.”

Fortunately for Richard, he’ll gain another year of eligibility after this season with Cooper and Passman, but because Smith is a senior, this will be Smith’s last opportunity to chase a state championship.

And should the Wolves reach the state championship game, the contest will be held on the same day as Monterey’s graduation.

It should come as no surprise which event Smith would attend should the Wolves reach the title game.

“I’m playing for the state championship,” Smith said. “Graduation can wait.”