Pictured above- Southeast of Saline head coach Chance Ptacek

GYPSUM — Chance Ptacek already was counting on a bright future for his Southeast of Saline baseball team.

Little did he know that the future is now.

“We’ve got a lot of youth, but these kids are working extremely hard and playing a lot of good baseball,” Ptacek, in his second season as head coach, said of the Trojans’ 13-3 record heading into Thursday’s home doubleheader against Smoky Valley. “Obviously we have to remind them of things, and they make young mistakes at times, but these kids are building toward something exciting.”

Indeed, save for a pair of early one-run losses at Kingman and doubleheader split last week against Beloit, the Trojans have been on a tear. The latest success was a sweep of Minneapolis in which they rallied from a four-run deficit to win the opener, 6-4, then took the nightcap, 11-0, in five innings on a Jackson Calvin no-hitter.

More impressive, Southeast has done it with a roster with only two seniors and four juniors. The Trojans regularly start three sophomores and two or three freshmen.

Sophomore shortstop Kayson Bertrand, who leads the team in hitting and a key member of the Trojans’ pitching rotation, had not anticipated the team coming together so quickly, though like his coach he figured it was just a matter of time.

Sophomore Kayson Bertrand

“I’m honestly really surprised how the season is going with our young bats, especially since we’ve got Jackson Colvin and Grady Gebhardt as our only two seniors on the team,” said Bertrand, who is hitting .489 with eight extra-base hits, 18 runs batted in, 23 runs scored and 16 stolen bases while batting third in the order. “I think we’ll definitely be really good in the next few years to come, just with how young we are.”

The Trojans are coming off a 14-7 season in Ptacek first year as head coach. Center fielder Gebhardt and junior pitcher/outfielder Tiernan Ptacek both were North Central Activities Association all-conference selections and are among the team leaders again this year.

But Southeast has been solid up and down the lineup, hitting .349 as a team with 101 stolen bases while the pitching staff has combined for a 3.04 earned run average.

In addition to Bertrand, junior first baseman Noah Rupert is hitting .420 with a team-best 22 RBIs while posting a 2-0 record in four starts on the mound. Tiernan Ptacek is hitting .396 while leading the way with 27 runs and 17 steals, and sophomore catcher/outfielder Tysen Keller has a .389 average as the leadoff hitter.

On the mound, Ptacek is 3-2 in five starts. Calvin and closer Burton Brooks are a combined 5-0 without allowing an earned run, and Brooks has both team saves.

“We put in a lot of work during our preseason,” said Tiernan Ptacek, who also played quarterback for Southeast’s Class 3A state runner-up football team and started at guard in basketball. “So, I feel like all that hard work we put in is just paying off in the right way.”

Rounding out the batting lineup for the Trojans are junior third baseman Casson Klover (.333 average), sophomore second baseman Jackson Tanner, freshman first baseman/designated hitter Zackary Heller (.333) and freshman right fielder Leighton Nutsch.

Chance Ptacek likes the fact that despite their lack of experience, the Trojans show no fear.

“I would say we are a gritty ball team,” he said. “We’ve gone down 6-0 twice this year to 4A schools and come back and won. Game 1 (against Minneapolis) we started down 4-0 and found a way to come back.”

“These kids are tough, good ballplayers, and they’re going to work and find a way to win games.”

A year ago, Southeast bowed out in the first round of regionals. Given their success to so far, they are looking for a deeper playoff run this time around.

Junior Tiernan Ptacek

“I think our chemistry, on and off the field, is really good,” Tiernan Ptacek said. “I feel like this team could make a deep run if we play how we can play.”

“I feel like state is definitely an option for this team.”

Chance Ptacek, Tiernan’s father, agreed.

“I think we’re building toward something special, and we’re going to scrap and claw and try to find a way,” he said. “The more varsity experience these kids continue to get, the more confident they’re going to become.”