Bellevue lacrosse practices attack moves during a recent practice.

The Bellevue sports empire just does not stop. When football and basketball are over, Bellevue keeps up the winning with lacrosse.

“It’s just a competitive atmosphere where everyone’s striving to be the best,” said midfielder Augie Fratt.

Under Coach John Baumann, the boys lacrosse team has captured four of the last five state titles and is looking for more this year with a young team.

Baumann has grown Bellevue’s program considerably. When he took over in 2005, he had trouble fielding a team, and this past season there were 80 athletes who turned out for try-outs. This growth reflects a larger trend in Washington, which has seen lacrosse participation numbers quadruple from under 1,000 students in the early 2000s to nearly 4,500 today.

Similar to the Bellevue football program, the lacrosse team can reload seamlessly, pulling from the ranks of its youth feeder program coached by Chris Bergin.

“Our youth program is a huge part of our success,” Baumann said. “He gets these kids ready for me when they reach the ninth grade.”

Last year’s senior class left 11 spots on the field, with the biggest deficits at goalkeeper and attack. Fratt, a sophomore, has risen to the challenge, averaging four goals per game.

“He’s a do-it-all midfielder with a scoring touch. He’s soft-spoken, yet fearless on the field,” said Baumann, who expects Fratt to be Bellevue’s top midfielder.

They are off to a 4-2 start, with the Wolverines’ only losses coming from tough matches against out-of-state opponents last weekend, which was a wake-up call for the young team.

“We haven’t been rising to the best of our abilities, but as the season goes on, we’ll start clicking,” Fratt said.

Fratt’s working with a tight group of midfielders, including freshman Matt Marino, and sophomore Justin Angelel, who has drawn attention from a few Ivy League schools.

The Boston University-bound Fratt is Bellevue’s only Division I commit so far, something Baumann would like to see changed.

“I think they’re capable of doing it,” Baumann said. “They just don’t have a very good opportunity being all the way out here.”

Baumann, who is in his tenth year as coach, has had a history of sending athletes to top colleges when it can be difficult for West Coast lacrosse players to be noticed by East Coast scouts. Last year Washington sent 53 athletes to play at the NCAA level, which is much less than a state like Maryland or New York.

“A lot of colleges are biased towards East Coast kids, because they’ve been known to produce good players,” said Fratt, who committed to BU in December.

The Wolverines sent last year’s All-Americans Hank Bethke to Ohio State, and Eric Haehl to Richmond, along with three other seniors playing in college. The year before, Bellevue sent three athletes to play NCAA lacrosse.

The key to Baumann’s success is getting his athletes exposure to college scouts who aren’t seeing Seattle players every week. So the Wolverines are competing against three Nevada-based teams next week and Baumann will take his underclassmen to a Long Island, N.Y. tournament in June to play in front of 60 scouts.

Playing in front of a Long Island crowd may be the dream for these athletes, but for now, it’s all about today, and rebuilding for tomorrow’s game.