St. Thomas Aquinas baseball team outscoring opponents, 75-8 through five games this season

DOVER - Why not now?

St. Thomas Aquinas High School senior Cade Murphy said those three words led to a change of mindset on the school's baseball team, and that has helped the Saints jump out to a strong start this season in Division II.

"This is a lot of guys' last chance to make that (playoff) push," Murphy said. "I really think we're giving it our all and 'why not now' is kind of the mentality we're going with this year."

It all starts with the team's intensity. St. Thomas Aquinas head coach Carson Cross said the Saints, who lost in last year's Division II semifinals, entered this season already with a postseason mindset.

"A lot of these guys are seniors now, and they're hungry," Cross said. "They've been in the playoffs the last two years, but this year, they really want to finish the job. I think they just kind of recognize it's a short season. I think we're trying to get into a playoff mindset as much as we can. I'd say in the past, it's been a lot more easy going until we've gotten towards the end, and then we try to ramp up the pressure."

Cross added, "this year, we've tried to make it a more competitive environment for everyone from the first scrimmage and practice," he said. "That way, when big moments come, these guys will be used to it and the moment won't feel as big."

Saints suffer first loss in pitcher's duel; bounce back with shutout

After winning their first three games of the season, the Saints suffered their first loss on Monday - a 2-1 setback at Bow.

"We faced a very solid pitcher who shut us down," Cross said of Bow sophomore right-hander Peyton Larrabee who struck out 13 and allowed three hits over seven innings.

However, the Saints bounced right back with an 18-0, five-inning win at Kennett on Wednesday, marking the second straight complete-game five-inning shutout for sophomore Jeff Luchsinger.

Before Monday, the Saints won their previous three games by a combined score of 57-6; a season-opening 22-4 win at Sanborn, an 18-2 win at Oyster River and a 17-0 home shutout over Coe-Brown.

Senior Timmy Avery says team 'locked in'

St. Thomas senior infielder Timmy Avery, who was a Division II all-state first-team selection last year, talked about the team being locked in since the off-season. Avery has six hits, four RBIs and has scored 10 runs this season.

"Everyone showed up to all of the offseason training and all of that," Avery said. "We were all kind of locked in from the beginning, and I feel like that's a big part of it (this start). We're just playing really well as a team. Everyone is stringing hits together, fielding and throwing strikes, I feel like that's the most important part. We're not walking a ton of people, and we're not giving up easy runs. We're staying in the game, staying locked in."

Cross said the team has been playing some good baseball, and said it's been awesome that the team has been able to produce runs at a high rate.

"Guys have just been having good at-bats, and guys stringing those together has made it easy for our hitters to capitalize on good pitches," he said. "After each game, you kind of celebrate and recognize who made big plays happen, or who drove in a lot of runs."

'Grinding out' each at-bat

But it starts with the approach at the plate, led by players like Murphy who was 9 for 9 through the first three games, had one of the Saints' three hits on Monday, and another on Wednesday.

"What we're really just trying to preach is grinding out at-bat after at-bat," Cross said. "We keep track of quality at-bats and reward the guys for that. Next thing you know, if you string together five, six, seven good quality at-bats in an inning, we can score that many runs, and I think guys are really starting to recognize that."

"We've kind of perfected our lineup," Murphy said. "Guys aren't only doing their job, but they're also putting other guys in scoring position. We're really making the most out of every opportunity that we've had on the base paths and in the box. That is something we kind of eased up on last year, but we're really taking advantage of early-in-the-count pitches, and other ways to score runs."

Transfer brings state championship game experience

Graham Willerer spent his two years at Newmarket before transferring to St. Thomas for his junior season. Willerer helped the Mules to two straight Division IV state championship games, losing as a sophomore and winning last year. He has eight hits and nine RBIs this season.

"I think I can help a lot, because I have two years of (state championship game) experience," Willerer said, explaining he's been in high-pressure playoff situations. "I can use what I faced last year to help us in high-pressure games. We haven't seen many high-pressure games before, but when we do, I think I can really be a team leader and help us out."

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: St. Thomas Aquinas baseball team is off to a strong start this season