North Hall is no stranger to the baseball playoffs. The Trojans played for the Class AAA state title in 2013 only to lose a tough series to Cartersville. They advanced to the Elite 8 in 2015.
But after a slew of departures to graduation from last season and facing a new-look team with underclassmen at several key positions, including atop the rotation with a pair of hurlers with little to no varsity experience, the Trojans appeared to be facing a possible rebuilding year.
Despite all of that, North Hall coach Trent Mongero and the rest of the Trojans have never wavered in their belief that success was possible in 2016.
We caught up with Mongero to get his thoughts on the season and their chances moving forward as the Trojans prepare to take on Class AAAA No. 1-ranked Locust Grove in the second round on Wednesday on the road.
QUESTION: Coach, we all know that every team is different. But this team really had a lot of new faces coming into the season. Talk about how this team was put together and how they have jelled over the course of the season?
ANSWER: This season actually started last summer. After we lost in the Elite 8 to Whitewater, we transitioned into summer baseball. We took the returning older players and assembled them on a team that played extremely tough competition. We also took most of our rising juniors and younger players and and kept them together as a team and scheduled them against extremely tough competition. Then this fall, as we do every year, we focused very heavily on defense for our two on ones after school workouts that started in September. We knew we had a nucleus of tough minded, blue-collar players that would compete if they were properly prepared. The final step was to schedule extremely difficult non-region opponents, to expose our weaknesses and prepare our hitters for the level of pitching we would see in (Region) 8-AAAA. As the season has progressed, so has our confidence and execution. The guys now trust each other and believe we can compete with anyone when we play well.
Q: This team got to do something no other North Hall team has gotten to do when you took them to Turner Field to take on Cartersville. What was that experience like and how has that helped y’all down the stretch, if at all?
A: The Turner Field experience was amazing. I can hardly put it into words how much fun we had as a team and baseball program. It was a team-building game and a memory creating opportunity that every single player, and their family, will cherish for a lifetime. The fact that we were playing Cartersville made it even more fun because of the history between our programs, having played each other for the state championship a couple years ago. I'm not sure that the game itself had any significant impact on our postseason preparation, but I would not have changed it for the world.
Q: Every team faces adversity during the course of a season. Y’all have been fortunate to stay relatively healthy much of the season. But, y’all were faced with basically a one-game playoff for second place and home field advantage in the first round on the final day of the regular season. Y’all won that game. How has that helped the confidence of the younger players in the playoffs?
A: With our region being so tight, one victory meant the difference of finishing second or fourth for three teams. We felt like our postseason actually started with that North Oconee series. In game one, our No. 2 hitter (in the line-up) and starting third baseman, Austin Adams, broke his hand. He has yet to return to game action. This added an additional challenge because we had to win the final game against North Oconee to secure the No. 2 seed and home field in the playoffs. We played a tremendous game at North Oconee and so far have been able to carry that momentum into the state playoffs. Hopefully we will get Austin back soon and that will be an additional piece of the puzzle to help our team as we fight to achieve our post season goals.
Q: Over the years Region 8-AAAA appears to have not gotten its just due. Critics said it was top-heavy with Buford, the defending state champion, and no one else. However, y’all made it to the Elite 8 last year and three of the four teams advanced to the second round this season. North Oconee, the only team not to make it, lost in a tight three-game series in the first round. Do you think 8-AAAA is underrated?
A: I can say with great confidence that baseball in north Georgia has significantly improved as a whole over the past 10 years. That can be seen now with the fact that four teams in 8-AAAA were ranked in the top 10 in the state at some point during the season. In addition, three of our teams, including No. 4 seed Madison County, advanced through the first round. Region 8-AAAA was one victory away to sweeping the first round of the playoffs. That makes a statement to anyone who doubted the quality of baseball in our Region.
Also, if deep playoff runs, state championships, and dominant players are a reflection of a "quality baseball region" then 8-AAAA fits the bill. For example, in 2015 we had our second best finish in school history with an "Elite 8" showing, Buford won the state championship (and makes a run at it most every year), Madison County has one of the best left-handed pitchers in the state and a very talented supporting cast of players, and North Oconee boasts having the No. 1 sophomore pitcher in the country as part of their talented squad.
Q: Pitching is king at every level of playoff baseball. Yet, your top two starters -- Reese Olson and Corbin Meeler -- had never started a playoff game before last week’s first round. Was that an area of concern coming into the playoffs?
A: (Sophomore) Reese Olson and (junior) Corbin Meeler have grown up a lot throughout the season, as has the rest of our pitching staff. Our non-region schedule forced them to mature quickly. Every team we played in non-region except for one made the post season. After our pitching staff faced those caliber of teams and then faced the quality teams in our region, we felt they would be ready to pitch well in the post season. That was the goal and so far it has worked. Of course, Locust Grove is the top ranked team in the state, so we will need both Reese and Corbin, as well as the rest of our staff to be sharp in order to pull the upset and advance to the Elite 8.
Q: You're on the toughest half of the bracket with four of the top seven teams in Class AAAA still alive on your side. You start that gauntlett against No. 1 Locust Grove on Wednesday. What will be the key to first, getting past Locust Grove, and then navigating through a tough field?
A: No doubt, our side of the bracket is loaded with very talented teams. We know that the big key to winning and advancing is to focus on our strengths, which is throwing strikes, changing speeds, playing good defense and timely hitting. We have to put the ball in play with two strikes and force our opponents to handle some pressure on the base paths. You can't get caught up on who your opponent is. Our team has a blue-collar, get to work mentality, and we know if we execute well, good things will happen. These guys have seen the North Hall teams before them have success, and they want to carry on that tradition. They want to add their chapter to the record books, and they want to be remembered as one of the best, if not the very best team, to come through our school in our 55+ year history.
