Staff photo / Joel Whetzel Warren G. Harding pitcher Caden Maffit throws a pitch during the Raiders’ game against Austintown Fitch on April 24.

It’s been a rocky road this season for Warren G. Harding. Injuries and bad bounces have plagued the team so far this year.

With the postseason fast approaching, the Raiders are hoping to turn things around and make a push in the tournament. Harding coach Andrew Burnett thinks his team has the tenacity to make it happen.

“We’ve had a lot of ups and downs, played well, had some tough losses, some extra inning games,” Burnett said. “We haven’t had a lot of luck. It’s been like that all year. We’ve had some injuries, but they fight.”

The Raiders are led by a senior class of four that includes pitcher-catcher combo Braylen Schuller as well as another pitcher, Caden Maffit.

“I would go to war with those four any day,” Burnett said. “They never quit. They’re bulldogs. They’re always in it. Whether we’re up five or down five, it doesn’t matter. They’re the same kids. They’re going to give you everything they’ve got every play.”

Earlier this month, in Harding’s contest against Ashtabula Lakeside, Maffit threw an 11-strikeout no-hitter.

“From the time he was warming up in the pen, he felt great,” Burnett said. “His slider was working, he was around the plate all day. We made a couple of great plays on the field which you always need on a no-hitter. A couple of diving catches, a couple of sliding catches in the infield, but he was dealing. It was the best he’s thrown all year. He’s peaking at the right time.”

Maffit credits his teammates for making the plays around him.

“Everyone was making some pretty good plays,” Maffit said. “Routine plays. That’s what does it. Shutting them down, throwing strikes, throwing it right by them, hitting spots. That’s what does it. They won’t be able to get to the ball if I just put it right in there and they won’t get hit if we just make the plays.”

While the defense has been solid, the team’s offense is something the Raiders are really looking to improve on. The main focus is scoring which comes from a more aggressive mentality at the plate.

“We’ve had some tough losses just from not making plays,” Maffit said. “We really need to score more runs because these two- or three-run games are not going to win it for us. We need to be more aggressive swinging. We can’t take first pitch strikes. We just need to get our swings together and be more aggressive with powerful swings. We need to go out there swinging hard.”

The lack of aggression would lead to batters falling in an early hole. With that said, Burnett is confident in the Raiders’ ability to respond to the challenge.

“We like to let that first one sneak by us and then we’re in a hole from the word go,” Burnett said. “At the beginning of the year, we did a good job jumping on the first fastball you saw. Now we get a little bit lax, but we’ll get it, we’re confident. They’re a good bunch of guys, we’ll fight, we’ll battle, and we’ll be okay.”

The 32nd-seeded Raiders travel to 25th-seeded Mentor on Tuesday to take on the Cardinals. A win would advance them to the sectional bracket final for a matchup with University School.

First pitch is set for 5 p.m.