BLOOMFIELD — Park Mikels saw spot duty for the Davis County Mustangs as a sophomore last season, gained some valuable experience, and helped his teammates win a Class 2A state title.

He’s in the starting lineup this year, and last weekend, he announced that fact with a bang.

During action at the top-ranked Mustangs’ home tournament in Bloomfield last Saturday, Mikels, now a junior, was trying to run down a fly ball to the wall in deep right field.

The wall was unforgiving. Mikels’s collision with the wall was heart-stopping. And the catch was — by all accounts — amazing.

“Park might have made the catch of the year,” said Davis County coach Todd White. “If someone had gotten that on video, it could have made ESPN.”

Due to the collision, Mikels spent Saturday night in various hospitals, getting stitches to various parts of his face. He’s now back on the field with his teammates, ready to help them defend their state title.

Mikels is new to the Davis County regular starting lineup, but like his teammates, he knows what it takes to make a championship run. Though the Mustangs lost five key players from their 2011 state title team, Davis County opened the season at No. 1 in the Class 2A rankings.

“We had a group of five seniors who all contributed last year, and they are definitely going to be missed,” said White. “We will not only miss their ability on the field, but they were all just great leaders.”

The Mustangs haven’t missed a beat, however. Heading into tonight’s South Central Conference doubleheader at Centerville, Davis County is 9-0 overall. Seven of those nine wins are by shutout, and five of them were by 12 runs or more.

Though Davis County said good-bye to leaders Kyle Graves, Zach Fligg, Caleb Rook, Nic Johnson and Aaron Halls, they are ranked No. 1 in the state because of who they have back. That starts with a pair of arms that few can match.

Mustang aces Josh Martsching and Calvin Mathews — who both have committed to play baseball at Division I Iowa — enter their senior season as perhaps the best one-two pitching punch in the state, in any class.

“Pitching and defense win a lot of ball games,” said White. “That should be one of our strengths.”

Mathews was 12-1 on the mound last season, with a minuscule 0.51 ERA and 158 strikeouts. Martsching was 9-2, with an ERA of 1.12 and 101 strikeouts. Davis County finished 33-4 overall last season on the way to a 2-0 victory over Gilbert in the state finals.

Martsching injured his leg during football season, and spent the fall and winter rehabilitating it. The Mustang coaching staff has kept a close eye on his progress.

“So far he has recovered well,” said White. “He hasn’t seemed to miss a beat. I keep my fingers crossed that he continues to get stronger and more confident out there.”

Seniors Clint Foster and Josey Garmon also return to the Davis County pitching rotation.

“We’re very confident in our pitching staff as a whole,” said White. “We have those four guys with experience and a lot of younger kids who will step up.”

Davis County also hits the ball with power, as the Mustangs led Class 2A in home runs last season. Mathews led the team with 13 dingers and Martsching and Garmon each added 11.

The Mustangs outscored opponents 18-1 in three 2011 state tournament games and only allowed two runs in seven postseason games. Davis County finished 2011 on a 23-game winning streak. That streak now stands at 32 games, heading into tonight’s twinbill at Centerville.

“Things are going pretty good right now,” said White. “The kids are getting adjusted, some are finding their leadership roles. Our kids understand that the season is a marathon and not a sprint, so hopefully we can keep carrying things in the right direction.”

Besides Mikels, new faces in the lineup include junior Calvin Utt at catcher and senior Clayton Kincart at first base. Senior Jacob Davidson and Foster both return to fill out the infield along with Martsching, while returning seniors Garmon and Austin Roberts man the outfield with Mikels.

That lineup will concentrate on battling for the SCC crown before they look ahead to the postseason, and the entire conference is loaded with talent this season.

“The kids are really going to have to show up every night ready to go,” White said. “In this conference, you have to step up and produce to win ball games.”

The Mustangs started conference play on Wednesday with two wins over Eddyville-Blakesburg. Mathews and Martsching earned the 4-0 shutout victories, and each fanned 12 E-B batters through six innings. Davidson and Garmon each hit home runs in the SCC twinbill.

White was cautious about expecting a second straight state title run.

“We know it takes a lot to do that,” he said. “You not only need a good team that plays well, you need a little luck, you need to stay healthy, and you need to keep doing the things it takes to win ball games.”