Whitehall head baseball coach Eric Schmitt recently reminded his staff that they only had one player returning from last year’s squad.

“We talked about it,” said the first-year head coach. “We knew this could take some time, especially with these guys playing at this level.

“But we are happy with our progress. A lot of them are realizing how good they can be, and they are getting better. It’s something that I didn’t feel at the beginning of the season, for sure.”

After Monday’s 14-4 victory over Allen, the Zephyrs raised their overall mark to 7-8 with five games left to play.

Schmitt senses his club can start to smell a district berth, but it will take a complete effort.

“We’re hanging in there,” he said. “One of our issues is getting two-out hits. We lost to Northampton (5-1), and we were hitting the ball right at people. That easily could have been a 5-1 victory instead of a 5-1 defeat.

“We have been getting hits, but we just have to be consistent. We also need to beat teams we should beat. When we have had some hiccups, it usually is about tightening our defense.”

Schmitt believes an earlier 4-1 victory over Parkland planted a seed.

“When we play well, we can hang with anybody,” he stated. “We can score and we have pitching. We just can’t allow a team five or six outs an inning. That’s how things can get ugly on us.”

According to Schmitt, junior Tyer Mastropieri has found his niche over his last few outings.

“He has pitched really well in his last three games,” stressed Schmitt. “He has a unique style out there. He keeps his pace, and can get under the skin of the other team. He has been throwing a ton of strikes.

“Over his last 21 innings, he has pitched very well. If we don’t make some mistakes in the field behind him, he would have had a better outcome.”

Schmitt also noted the steady contributions of senior outfielder Bryce Bashore (team-high .462), senior infielder Gabe Guzy (.391), and junior infielder Jace Duld (.295, 2 HRs, team-high 20 RBIs).

The Zephyrs have games against Allentown Central Catholic, Northampton, North Schuylkill, Parkland, and Wyoming Valley West remaining on their schedule.

Their magic number will be three to claim a district berth.

“We got a shot,” noted Schmitt. “We have to keep playing well and avoid mistakes.”