BELOIT — West Branch has become one of the reliably consistent baseball programs in the Valley, tallying more than 15 wins almost every season while posing a tough challenge for any other team on their schedule.

Head coach Rick Mulinix said the team’s consistent results is a testament to every aspect of the program, from the players and their parents to coaching and institutional cohesiveness.

“Even our down years are not down years, if that makes sense,” Mulinix said. “We’re always going to be competitive. We’re always going to be able to field a team that plays fundamentally sound baseball.”

This year’s team may rise above just being a tough out, however, and ultimately challenge for hardware at the end of the season. The Warriors entered the year ranked as the 16th-best Division II team in the state by the Ohio High School Baseball Coaches Association (OHSBCA), and after a perfect opening week, West Branch jumped to No. 13 in the state rankings.

There are several reasons for the team’s strength this season, but the presence of Mulinix’s son, Boston, as well as assistant coach Shawn Alazaus’ son Beau, has given this specific roster a leg up on some in the past.

“My son’s on the team, Shawn’s son’s on the team, so when they were seven years old, we started coaching this core group of kids that were in their age group through travel ball all the way up until high school,” Mulinix said. “Seven of the starters on this team right now have played together since they were seven years old, so they know our style. They know what our expectations are. They know each other.”

The early results have proven the years of hard work together may be paying off; through the first five games of the season, West Branch is undefeated and has outscored its opponents 36-5.

Another ingredient in the Warriors’ recipe of success has been their coaching, Mulinix says. He is not referring to himself, though.

“I am blessed as a head coach with the best assistant coaching staff in the state of Ohio,” he said.

At 10 paid and volunteer coaches in total, West Branch’s staff is unusually large, which allows Mulinix to delegate and the Warriors to specialize much more than other baseball teams in the area.

“I don’t have to have a coach in a flyball machine standing there putting the balls in the machine and yelling things out. I can have our outfield coach with our outfielders so he can talk to them,” Mulinix said. “My infield coach doesn’t hit fungos. He goes out with the infielders while other coaches are hitting fungos.”

The abundance of coaches helps West Branch overcome some natural disadvantages, Mulinix says. One glaring shortcoming is in the program’s facilities.

“We’re the only team in our conference that doesn’t have a turf football field, believe it or not. So when everybody can go out and practice on a turf football field when the weather’s bad, we get to use a parking lot. We’re kind of, facility-wise for baseball, stuck in the ’80s, ’90s, where we’re in a gym [or] in a parking lot.”

Mulinix will not allow his team to use that as an excuse.

“I know that’s a disadvantage, but nobody cares. No one cares or no one feels sorry for us that our facilities are maybe not equal to other people that we compete against,” he said. “We have a saying in our program: it’s ‘control what you can control.’ We can’t control our facilities. That’s out of the baseball control.”

What the baseball team has controlled is its on-field production. The Warriors have shut out their opponents in three of their first five games, and in only one game so far has West Branch allowed more than a single run.

Mulinix is adamant that the best is yet to come for his team, too. The head coach said what he believes to be his most effective lineup has not been able to play yet due to early-season injuries.

Once the Warriors’ best lineup is on the diamond together, though, Mulinix hopes West Branch can continue to ascend and achieve the goals the team has set for themselves.

After a bitter 1-0 loss to Hubbard in the district tournament semifinal last year, Mulinix said the Warriors are striving to not only reach the district final but win the district championship and reach the regional tournament.

“But we also know that’s not easy,” he said.

Nothing worth doing ever is.

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