The Northwestern Lehigh baseball team (11-7 overall; 10-5 in Colonial League) has already clinched a berth in the District 11 Class AAA playoffs.

If things pan out for the Tigers, they could find themselves playing for a league championship next week as well.

With all of this success, you'd expect a senior-laden team taking the field each day in New Tripoli. And while the Tigers possess two key 12th graders, it's their mix of younger players that has had just a big of an impact on their success this year.

"They really have come a long way since the beginning of the season," head coach Len Smith said. "As a result, they have all contributed to our successevery one, from top to bottom.

"The experience that they've gained I think is going to be a great benefit in the future. And I also think we'd be a little bit further along at this point in time had the weather been a little bit more cooperative early on."

Following last year's team that also graduated just two seniors, catcher Collin Breidinger and outfielder Austin Yanek are the lone 2014 graduates on this young team.

Both have put together remarkable seasons and have set examples of the Tiger way. Yanek is third on the team in batting, hitting at a .322 clip, while driving in seven runs. Breidinger has tallied nine RBIs and is batting .265 on the season.

"They're important because of how young we've been this year, and especially last year, they've stepped up huge for us," Breidinger said. "We have most of the team coming back this year, and now they have almost two years under their belts."

Take a look at the Tigers infield and you'll see all underclassmen.

In the middle is sophomore shortstop Jake Augustus, who leads the team with a .440 batting average, 12 RBIs and 11 stolen bases. Sophomore Brady Mengel plays second base and fills that hole in the Tigers' infield.

"He [Augustus] and Brady Mengel have terrific potential, especially defensively in the middle," Smith said. "They turned a bunch of double plays already and that really gets you out of jams."

On the corners are junior third baseman Josh Williamson and freshman first baseman Tyler Schreiner. Williamson is second on the team in batting at .350 with 10 RBIs.

Juniors Nick Rodriguez (.302 batting average and seven RBIs) and Taylor Breininger round out the outfield with Yanek.

The pitching staff, which endured some injury concerns early in the season with junior Jordan Storm, has been solid all season long. And they're all juniors as well.

To go along with his solid season at the plate, Williamson has put together a 4-0 mark and a 2.76 ERA. Junior Brandon Eden sees time on the mound as a starter, while Rodriguez (2-2-1 2.40 ERA) and Storm (3-1 4.14 ERA) have been solid in relief.

"I think that group has the potential to do an outstanding job in the future if they stay focused and continue to work at it," Smith said.

The Tigers may be a young group, but they have plenty of experience at a number of positions.

Not only would a strong run in the postseason send the two seniors out in style, it would set the benchmark for years to come in the Tiger program.

"We've never been to leagues," Breidinger said. "We were close the last couple of years. It would be really big this year and moving forward next year to start off the year on a good note."

"I feel we have a possibility to maybe make some noise," Smith said. "That would be a tremendous experience for these guys. It also bodes well for the future and those guys coming back."