South Range coach Jim Hanek didn’t realize it at the time, but saying he likes the baseball IQ of his Raiders was a dangerous statement.

One of the team’s smartest players is Ohio State recruit Trey Pancake. The senior catcher was a freshman when the 2018 South Range team won a state title, and his wit and experience have him thinking another one is a possibility.

“Honestly, I think our potential is a state championship this year again,” said Pancake, the team’s leading hitter. “We have all the talent in the world. … It’s all going to come together come playoff time. We’re still trying to figure things out, and it’s late in the season, but we have so much talent that we’re just trying to figure out who to put on the field and where to put them. We want the best lineup out on the field. You try not to waste any talent you have.”

The Raiders have plenty.

Hanek is tasked with piecing it all together. Now in his 14th year leading South Range, he’s pretty good at doing just that. It helps to have a player like Pancake as the centerpiece behind the plate.

The 5-foot-10, 175-pound senior is batting .571 with three home runs, six triples, 13 doubles, 16 walks, 44 RBIs and 32 runs — all team highs. Pancake is actually one of two Ohio State recruits at South Range, but teammate Jake Gehring, a hard-throwing pitcher with a sweeping curveball, had Tommy John surgery in January and is out for the season.

The new ace of the staff is Youngstown State recruit Brandon Mikos. The 6-4, 200-pound right-hander is 7-0 and has allowed one earned run all season (good for a 0.16 ERA in 44 innings). He has struck out 84. While he can throw in the upper 80s, it’s the command he has of several pitches and his overall demeanor that impresses Hanek.

“He commands his pitches well,” he said. “He has a good fastball, good breaking stuff. He knows how to pitch. Some guys are throwers, and he can run it up there in terms of velo, but he knows how to pitch, he knows how to get kids out. He’s very composed, and really, that composure, that extends a sense of calm to the other defenders on the field.”

The veteran presence continues.

Senior Aidan English and junior Michael Perry provide talent and experience as well. English is a pitcher, an infielder and often a designated hitter. He’s batting .382 with 13 doubles (tied with Pancake for the team high). Hanek said Perry is the best defensive first baseman he has ever coached at South Range. He’s also batting .397 with 27 RBIs (second behind Pancake’s 39). Mikos can hit, too. He has a .382 average with 32 runs (tied with Pancake for tops on the team).

They played a big role following a brief three-game skid midway through the season. A team not used to losing was scuffling and searching for answers. Instead of arguing or pointing fingers, a group of guys who have played on the same team since Little League came together and worked their way through the losses.

“Having a friendship and a chemistry as a team, it helps us stick together even through tough times,” Pancake said. “Halfway through the season, we had a little rough patch where we lost three or four games in a row, but we just decided that we can’t let that define our whole season. We had to bounce back and win some baseball games.”

They did indeed.

The Raiders (18-7, 13-1 Northeast-8 Conference) are 10-2 since that mini slide. They’re the No. 2 seed in the Division III Struthers District, and with arguably as much talent as any team in the tournament, the Raiders have a chance for another deep run. Hanek sees similarities to the 2018 ballclub.

“Every team is special in terms of the guys,” he said. “There are lot of guys from that ’18 team that I’ll remember forever. It’s not just the fact that we won the state title — that obviously adds to it — but they were just great kids that I really enjoyed being around for a number of years. This is that final group from that team that’s departing this year, so I guess there are some parallels you can draw.”

Hanek knows another magical run like 2018 won’t come easy.

“This team, talent-wise, absolutely — this team has the potential to make a run,” he said. “It’s baseball, and unfortunately, in one-game scenarios, sometimes baseball happens. The better team doesn’t always win. It’s whoever plays better that day. That’s something that we’ve talked about and preached. In the tournament, you throw records out the window. It’s whoever plays the best that day who advances.”