Every season, each team is different.
Regardless of how many returning starters a team has.
And while it was expected that North Vermilion’s baseball team would look differently after graduating 13 seniors from last year’s team and returning only one starter this season, the Patriots’ play has seemed different as well.
“We’re not inexperienced because we are very much an older team,” Patriots coach Jeremy Trahan said. “But we’re inexperienced in terms of varsity playing time. A lot of these guys have had to wait their turn to get into the starting lineup. We have some seniors that have had to wait four years and some juniors that have waited three years for their turn to play.”
Despite the plethora of new faces in the lineup, the Patriots have continued to be successful, going 22-13 this season and are set to play in the state tournament for the third time in four years.
“Our kids have been remarkable all season,” Trahan said. “We’re pumped about the opportunity to play in the state tournament this year. Last year, we weren’t playing our best at this time and we ran into a very tough Iowa team. But this team is hungry.”
Although the Patriots, who will face No. 10 Pearl River (29-10) in the Division II nonselect semifinals at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday on Field 40 at McMurry Park in Sulphur, still pride themselves on pitching and playing defense, it doesn't look the same.
“We still hang our hats on pitching and defense, but this team is different,” Trahan said. “We don’t have one or two dominant arms. We have a good bit of arms.”
The Patriots, whose pitching staff is led by Isaac Russell (5-2, 1.48 ERA), Blaze Duhon (4-6, 2.76 ERA) and Colt Lejeune (5-1, 2.65 ERA), don’t have a pitcher with more than five wins, but has a staff ERA of 2.23.
“I think it has made things easier for us,” Trahan said of the team's pitching depth.
Offensively, the Patriots have struggled at times. The Patriots are hitting .263 as a team, so they have had to be strategic to generate offense.
“I think our batting average is probably one of the lowest that we have had in the 17 years I’ve been here,” Trahan said. “We have to find ways to score runs and get on base. We don’t have one guy that teams will pinpoint and say, ‘we aren’t going to let this guy beat us.’”
So, when it comes to generating offense, the Patriots often turn to their team motto “WIT” — ‘Whatever It Takes.”
“Part of that (offensive struggles) is because of how hard our schedule was,” Trahan said. “We are an on-base percentage-oriented team and our on-base percentage is .413. Our goal is to find a way to get guys on and then bunt and steal bases so that we can make things happen on offense.”
Pearl River will be another test for the Patriots, who are battle-tested after playing five teams — Acadiana, Sam Houston St. Thomas More, Teurlings and University Lab — that are in the semifinals in their divisions.
“Pearl River is a pretty good team. But once you get to this point everyone is good,” Trahan said. “They have a deep pitching staff. I feel like we are in a better situation than them because they have never been (to Sulphur) before. Our kids have and they know what it is like. It’s going to be a really good game and I’m excited go out there and see what happens.”