Plano Senior baseball head coach Rick Robertson knew early on what his team was capable of, despite graduating a litany of pitchers and position players.

He just knew it would be a process.

"We had a lot of guys to replace, but we knew we still had some talent," Robertson said. "If we could get them all in the right spot, we thought we'd have a chance to compete."

The Wildcats did more than compete, inserting themselves in the District 8-5A playoff fray early and parlaying that momentum into a district championship and the squad's first back-to-back playoff berths in over a decade.

All this for a team Robertson described as "not quite there yet," at the start of 2012.

"We were sketchy in a lot of areas, but we changed some positions around and got some guys in better spots to be successful on defense," he said. "That helped to get more offense in the lineup. Even guys who didn't have great years would come through in key moments to drive in runs and I thought that was big for us overall."

Top of mind was getting the team's hitting up to par, a process that eventually netted the Wildcats the most runs of any 8-5A outfit during district (76).

While Plano lacked the power that aided the team last season, it had a bevy of contact hitters with a pension for getting on and leaving the team's speed on the basepaths to help the rest, as evidenced by the likes of senior Matt McLean, sophomore Ryan Robertson and junior Connor Brady.

Plano also enjoyed a youth movement with the additions of Ryan and freshman Mitchell Hansen to the starting fold complemented by the midseason addition of freshman Cody Farhat.

"Youth always gives you a lot of enthusiasm," coach Robertson said. "They'll say something crazy and just be full of excitement. It's nice to know those guys will be back; they've got quite a job to do.

"They have their work cut out for them, but we're definitely excited to have those guys back at Plano."

The core of seniors Hunter Raley, Connor Reed, Max Negoslawski and junior Brad Hoeler were tasked with replacing the district's top pitching rotation from one year prior.

"With those four guys, we were able to count on them when they went to the mound," Robertson said. "Our pitching and defense helped keep us in games and gave us time in a lot of games to come back late."

It was a process that hit its stride during the second half of district -- a stretch that saw the Wildcats win seven of their last eight 8-5A ballgames.

"We won a lot of those games late," Robertson said. "The pitching and defense kept us alive and then it came down to getting those big hits late. It's exciting to see where they came from early to where they wound up late in the year."

During that span, Plano averaged 5.8 runs per game. The results reflected in the standings with a 7-2 win over Plano East followed by a 5-3 decision over Plano West securing an 11-3 record in 8-5A and an outright district championship -- a program rarity for Plano.

"To finally get one outright was really sweet," Robertson said. "We've shared a couple in the past and that was something the boys really wanted. It was really gratifying, especially with a bunch of new players coming in."

While the Wildcats' postseason hopes didn't last as long as intended -- bowing out in area play to L.D. Bell -- Plano still mustered as imposing a two-year spurt as the program has witnessed in decades. Several players enjoyed that span and then some with McLean, Negoslawski and Reed each boasting three seasons of varsity experience as part of a senior core that will graduate 13 this year.

"These are guys who came in and worked their rear ends off," Robertson said. "They came up through the system and developed. For several of them, there's a huge upside still going on to college.

"What those guys accomplished in their four years here was pretty special."

Fortunately for Plano, it'll lose just three starting position players to graduation. The area of concern, as was the case last season, will be replacing the pitching exploits of Raley, Reed and Negoslawski.

But with Hoeler back, meshed with the strides anticipated by the underclassmen, the Wildcats aim to pick up right where they left off entering the offseason.

"We like our future," Robertson said. "There's no doubt we've got some good, young kids on the way up. Our future is in our youth and now it's just about getting them to develop and challenging them to go out and continue to get better, while getting bigger, stronger and faster."

Current Rating: 0 of 0 votes!

Rate File: Select Rating: * ** *** ****

 Plano Apartments
 Plano Attorneys
 Plano Auto Dealers
 Plano Auto Parts
 Plano Auto Repair
 Plano Beauty Salons
 Plano Car Rental
 Plano Dentists
 Plano Doctors
 Plano Flowers
 Plano Hotels
 Plano Insurance
 Plano Loans
 Plano Mortgages
 Plano Movers
 Plano Pizza
 Plano Realtors
 Plano Restaurants
 Plano Storage
 Plano Tax Preparation
 Plano Travel
 Featured
 More...