Tyler Mastropieri wasn’t totally surprised with his team’s recent 4-1 victory over Parkland.

The junior certainly played his part as he handcuffed the Parkland bats to four hits and struck out seven Trojans (9-3) in the process.

“It was a huge win for us,” said Mastropieri. “It proved that anything can be possible. We were all in the perfect mindset. Lately, every game we are getting stronger and stronger.”

For the Zephyrs, it was their third consecutive victory and lifted their overall record to 5-6. First-year head coach Eric Schmitt suddenly has his squad in the hunt for a district playoff berth after a slow start with a relatively young team.

Schmitt has been impressed with Mastropieri’s showing.

“He has been very good at keeping his fastball low,” said Schmitt. “He has been pretty effective with all his pitches. Our overall pitching has been more complete lately, and that’s been a big plus for us.”

There also has been a change of mindset.

“We were the team that was looking into the visiting dugout and wondering about the other team,” said Schmitt. “They didn’t understand. Over the past few games, we started to change our thinking.

“All along, I have been telling these guys that there is talent on our team, and we have to use it. They are now starting to believe in themselves.”

Mastropieri recalled a season-opening trip to Myrtle Beach that initially dampened the Zephyrs’ spirits.

“Things didn’t go well there,” he stated. “But it benefitted us 100-percent in the end. We did manage to work on our fielding down there. We also faced some different pitching, and that also helped us.”

Schmitt also cited the steady play of seniors outfielder Bryce Bashore and infielder Gabe Guzy as well as sophomore infielder Dylan Carfara. Bashore was leading the team with a .467 batting average as of this story.

“Bryce has been all over the bases,” he said. ‘He has been hitting well and stealing bases. Guzy and Carfara have been coming up with some big hits for us.”

Schmitt is optimistic his team can make a run at the postseason with 11 games left beginning this week. Home games with Allen and Emmaus this week could help set the tone.

“It is definitely not out of reach,” said Schmitt about the postseason. “We played a lot of games when we were right there, and we lost them. We need to win them now. We just have to be better in some game situations.

“We are playing with a lot of confidence, and we are finishing games.”