RESERVE — Every coach hopes to see improvement from year to year and is happy to see it happen.

Riverside Academy softball coach Tamra Regalo is over the moon. Rather, she is over the fence — along with the dozens of yellow softballs that have been hit by her team this season.

The Riverside Lady Rebels have hit 40 home runs as of Thursday. According to MaxPreps.com, that has them leading the nation, just ahead of Central High of Baton Rouge with 36.

While individually the players are nowhere near the top of the leaderboard (Mikayla Rojas, a junior at Heritage Academy in Laveen, Ariz., leads the nation with 21) and, as a team, they’re only hitting .334, they are sending more than their fair share over the fence.

They also have scored an above-national-average 317 runs.

Lexi Johnson and Toni Perrin are leading the team with nine apiece. K.C. Becnel has hit eight and Janie Milioto has hit seven. Except for the regular starting pitcher, every starter in the lineup has hit at least one. Some have hit more than one in a single game.

The team hit a high of four against Vandebilt Catholic and St. Charles Catholic.

It has become so common, in fact, that the Lady Rebels have taken to calling themselves “The Bomb Squad,” and thoroughly enjoy hitting balls into the student section that regularly accumulates in the backs of pickup trucks just beyond the outfield fence.

While some might call them “cheaters” (see sidebar), the Rebels insist that their double-digit dingers are simply the result of a lot of hard work.

“They probably take 100-150 cuts a day, if not more,” Regalo said. “They’re always in the cage, always working on their swings. (Assistant coach) Tori (Sheppard) is always throwing them extra pitches.”

Regalo and the players also give a lot of credit to strength coach Chris Lachney and the weight-lifting program he has developed for them.

“It’s all in the legs,” said Milioto, who hit three home runs last season and leads the team with 48 RBIs this year. As a team, Riverside hit 28 home runs last season — which isn’t bad for a high school softball team.

Hailey Tassin, who graduated last year, led with seven. Madison Watson hit five, Perrin and Milioto each hit three.

“I thought we had a high number last year,” Regalo said, adding the increase has been a combination of hard work, weight lifting and skill.

“A lot of the players are just swinging well,” she said. “They’re just seeing the ball really well.”

Johnson not only is hitting home runs, she also has 40 RBIs.

“We just put in a lot of hard work,” Johnson said. “Between the T’s and the cage, we probably hit 200 balls a day. I changed my swing. It’s more of a swing now instead of just a hack. ”

The players said they have heard fans from opposing teams accuse them of cheating, urging the umpires to check their bats.  They don’t take offense, however.

“It’s definitely a compliment,” Perrin said. “Obviously, we’re not. They checked our bats. Everything was fine.”