When Dawson’s Milo Richtel steps up to the plate, with the bat waving behind his head, a smile of pure joy breaks out across his face. Standing at 5-foot-10 and 170 pounds, the junior shortstop might not look the most intimidating, but this spring, he may be the most dangerous man in Colorado high school baseball.

Prior to the Mustangs’ 11-1 loss to No. 5 Dayspring Christian Academy on Tuesday, Richtel ranked No. 1 in the nation in slugging percentage at 1.775. On the batting average scale, he was No. 12 (.700), and he rang in at No. 16 in on-base percentage (.760).

Through 53 plate appearances this spring, with playoff baseball right around the corner, he’s struck out exactly zero times.

DCA had to sprint far outside of the field just to get an out on him, opting to snag a wayward foul ball instead of giving him another chance to put metal to leather. Opposing pitchers know better by now.

“I’ve gotten intentionally walked a bunch of times,” Richtel said. “The first time they intentionally walked me, and then the next at-bat, I hit a home run. I looked at them and said, ‘Don’t intentionally walk me.’”

His progression to get here, he said, was finessed down to the smallest detail. During the offseason, he focused more on eating his veggies, and he hit the gym often to incorporate more squats, upper body training and running.

He added an estimated 15 to 20 pounds of muscle before he first stepped into the batter’s box as a junior. As the high school season has worn on, he’s been trying to lift and eat as much as he can. Much to the chagrin of his opponents.

“I just feel like every time I’m up there, I have the ability to do damage,” he said. “In the first game, I went 5 for 5. I hit for the cycle and a home run, and I just kept compounding it. It’s not every game, but it adds. I just noticed it felt different. I was like, ‘Wow, (the ball) is going farther than I thought.’”

Of his 29 hits this season, 20 have gone for extra bases, including nine home runs.

Richtel knows that his plate numbers, while impressive, are just a small piece of the diamond puzzle. He brandished his fielding skills against DCA when, on a deep ball to right field, he caught a relay throw from Graham Bernstein, then pivoted from shallow center to throw out the runner at third.

His Slammers club coach, Tagg Bozied, knew he was special from the moment he met him four years ago. He believes — and has witnessed — that Richtel has the ability to elevate any team he’s a part of.

This season, the junior has steadied a 9-8 Mustangs team that is ranked 18th in Class 2A and well within the 32-team picture for regionals.

“The two things that stick out to me about him that are immediately evident are that he has a really special hand-eye coordination,” Bozied said. “It’s really profound. There are good players and there are players that handle the bat well, and then there are players that are so good they have no fear. What I remember most about coaching him in games — he was on my team for two years — is just how well he struck the ball early in counts. It did not matter who was pitching — whether the pitcher was good, bad — whatever the level of competition had no influence on his play.

“The other thing that’s special about him is he has such a pure joy about the game. He played second base, third base, shortstop and the outfield for me. He’s the type of kid that no matter where you put him, he just seems to always make a diving play that has a big, a big influence on the game.”

As Richtel continues to put together the total package, he’s hoping he’ll get noticed by a few more colleges. As it stands now, he’s in talks with a few coaches but has yet to receive an offer.