Staff photo / Brian Yauger Harding's Carter Knupp fires in a pitch during the Raiders' win over Bristol on Thursday.

WARREN — Before the season, Warren G. Harding head baseball coach Andrew Burnett and his staff believed the Raiders’ strengths would be their pitching and defense.

“The only question mark was gonna be our offense,” Burnett said.

Through four games, Harding’s pitching and defense have left quite a bit to be desired, but the Raiders’ bats have been white-hot to start the 2024 season. Harding has scored 34 total runs and relied on clutch hitting to win multiple close contests and get out to a 4-0 record early in the year.

An undefeated start like this season’s is unusual for Harding, and it hasn’t come easy. The Raiders won two of their four games in the bottom of the seventh inning after falling behind by at least three runs.

Burnett says the comebacks and late-game heroics are a testament to his team’s resilience.

“One of the keys is the kids don’t quit,” Burnett said. “In the past, we’ve had teams that would have just kind of put their head down and let it end, and these kids battled ’til the end.”

In its first game of the season, Harding overcame an 8-4 deficit in the seventh inning to defeat defending Northeast-8 Conference and District III district champion Lakeview 9-8. The Raiders’ path to victory proved much different in the next game, a 2-0 defensive slugfest victory over Bristol in which senior Carter Knupp pitched a complete-game shutout.

Harding’s two most recent games resembled the season opener vs. Lakeview much more than the Bristol win; the Raiders scored 12 and 11 runs in wins over Jefferson Area and Canton McKinley, respectively.

Burnett credited the offensive explosion to the team’s athleticism and aggressiveness at the plate.

“They’re all athletic, so we’ve been telling them, ‘Just put it in play.’ We got a lot of fast guys that even on an infield single or a slow ball into the infield, they’re gonna challenge the defense,” Burnett said. “The approaches at the plate have been good where we’re not taking a lot of strikes, and we’re just jumping on fastballs when we see them.”

While the bats have been hot, the defense has not. The Raiders have allowed 26 runs and committed more than a dozen errors through the first four games, the sting of which has only been numbed by the team’s perfect record.

Burnett has taken notice of the defensive woes, though, and attributed the mistakes to focus and youth.

“It’s just a little bit of a lack of focus, maybe. Some of it, we’re making the plays and we’re just booting the throws and throwing it away,” Burnett said. “Infield-wise, we’ve got a young team. I’m starting a freshman at short, I got a couple of sophomores and a couple of juniors in the infield, so it’s just going to be some growing pains with them moving forward.”

One of the bright and young spots on the team is Gummy Hart, the team’s shortstop who has also pitched four innings so far this season. Hart drew the game-winning walk to lift the Raiders to a win against Lakeview. In that same game, Hart struck out five batters in his three innings on the mound.

Hart and the Raiders’ hot bats may be cooling off as a result of the area’s drizzly weather, however. Several of Harding’s games have been canceled, postponed or otherwise moved due to rain, which is not something a team on a roll needs or wants.

“The biggest issue now is when the next time we’re actually going to get on the field is. We’ve been playing well and hitting well. Hitting is one of the things you have to keep doing or it just finds a way to go away, so this week-long break here, I’m a little worried about. But we’re getting after it in the cage and we’re still seeing pitching, so hopefully we can keep going.”

If Mother Nature allows it, Harding will meet Warren JFK today in a game that Burnett admits his team looks forward to playing.

“It’s just another game, but these kids all know each other. They grew up playing each other, so the kids definitely get up for it a little bit each year when we do it,” he said.

Thursday’s matchup with Kennedy is another step in what appears to be a tough schedule for Harding to navigate. Starting with the game against the Eagles, the Raiders are set to play games on three consecutive days; Harding is scheduled to play Kennedy, Hubbard and Mathews from Thursday to Saturday. Next week would be more of the same, as Harding is matched up with Austintown Fitch on both Tuesday and Wednesday, Niles on Thursday and Hubbard on Friday.

Burnett said the upcoming slate of games will serve as a “test” for his team and a chance for his young group to mature against stiff competition, which he hopes will translate down the line in the postseason.

“We’re gonna just keep fighting every day,” Burnett said. “We’re going to fight every day and we’re going to win some games. Hopefully, we’re playing our best ball when the tournament comes around and we can get a couple of wins.”

Have an interesting story? Contact Preston Byers by email at pbyers@tribtoday.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @PresByers.