Questions surrounded South Williamsport entering the 2023 season. Those questions only multiplied following a 15-4 season-opening loss against Danville.

The Mounties lost their top three pitchers from last year’s team which captured a District 4 Class AA championship and which came within two outs of beating eventual state champion Everett. All those pitchers also were part of an efficient offense and multiple starters there graduated as well.

But a lot has changed since that Danville game. It’s easy to look at South’s record (4-1) and say that the results are the top change, but it goes beyond that. The Mounties have made massive strides in all areas during their four-game winning streak. Coach Casey Waller and his staff have moved players around the field and in the line-up and are zoning in on what works best.

Each season is like a puzzle and South is still working this one. But the pieces are starting to fit.

“We lost a lot of our pitching, but we have new kids stepping into new roles and playing well,” first baseman Tadd Lusk said after hitting a go-ahead, two-run, sixth inning double in a 9-4 win against Montoursville. It’s coming together.”

“Guys are starting to understand their roles a little bit. We struggled with that early,” Waller said. “We’ve been trying to put guys in different positions and sometimes guys can get frustrated with that, but lately they’ve been embracing it. From the first game to this (Montoursville) we’ve changed positions a lot trying to figure out what’s best and it’s starting to come together.”

South might not have any super star players, but they can all play. Waller traditionally has helped his teams maximize all their potential and it is looking like that might happen here again, although there is a long way to go and a bunch of strong opponents ahead. The important thing is South is learning and learning while they win.

This team is gaining confidence as different players continue thriving in key moments. The Mounties won each of their first three games in their final at-bats, overcoming a six-run, sixth-inning deficit against Wellsboro and turning a one-run deficit into a 9-4 advantage with a six-run sixth against defending District 4 Class AAAA champion Montoursville. South brilliantly played which could best be described as “Wallerball” that day, stealing seven bases, skillfully manufacturing runs and never flinching when situations grew tense.

“That’s definitely going to build our confidence in the field,” Lusk said. “That’s big for us as we continue to grow.”

“When I look at Montoursville’s team, they’ve always had a strong program and they’ll continue to have a strong program,” Waller said. “They’ve got some players over there, so I didn’t know going into this game what to expect, so coming out with a win is big for us.”

South capped its week with a 16-6 win against surging Canton, snapping its three-game winning streak in a district playoff rematch. Lusk drove in five runs, Caleb Neidig went 3 for 4 and Noah Turner earned his second win. Neidig and third baseman Alex Neidig made some potential game-changing plays in the infield against Montoursville and Kaden Shay reached base four times, stealing five bases and throwing two scoreless innings in relief to earn the win.

All three of those players are starting at new positions this season. So is Lusk who primarily served as a designated hitter during his freshman season. Turner and Kaiser Kistner are growing comfortable on the mound and Kayne Jones is developing into one of the area’s premier catchers. Freshman Trace Wertz has settled into the clean-up spot and had RBIs in each of his first four games, while sophomore Remington Minier scored twice against Canton.

This puzzle remains incomplete, but it certainly looks better than it did following the season opener. South knows it is not the kind of team which can simply show up and dominate the opponent. The Mounties know they have to keep working and building.

And they seem to like laying the bricks upon that foundation.

“We don’t have any prima donnas on our team,” Waller said. “It’s nice when you don’t have a guy on the team who thinks he’s above everyone else or that he’s too good to do this or that. The guys are working hard.”

SO CLOSE: Not that it cares, but Loyalsock may be one of the best 2-5 teams in recent District 4 history. The Lancers are not where they want to be, but have played four straight undefeated teams and had chances to win each game. It’s frustrating to lose, but Loyalsock knows it is right there with some outstanding teams and that could provide a big boost moving forward.

Loyalsock, a team featuring mostly new starters, lost one-run games to Hughesville, Midd-West and Holy Redeemer, all who entered undefeated. It also held a 3-1 lead against Central Mountain (7-0) before losing, 6-3. The Lancers led Midd-West in the sixth inning, were tied in the seventh at Hughesville and may have been one apparent bad call from a win at Redeemer.

The Lancers lost last Friday’s game, 3-2, but several spectators said Ethan Nagy hit what would have been a go-ahead, two-run double which landed three-feet inside the line. There was only one umpire there, however, and the ball was called foul. It was a bitter pill to swallow but in the big picture, playing all these strong teams so tough may make Loyalsock stronger for the stretch run and help it a lot it reaches the postseason.

“We’ve had playoff atmospheres four games in a row,” Loyalsock coach Jimmy Webb said. “The people are here and the games are tight. It’s tight situations, so it can only help us because you can’t mimic that type of atmosphere.”

EXTRA BASES: Both the present and future appear bright at Warrior Run. Despite the loss against Hughesville Saturday, the Defenders (4-3) already have matched their win total from the previous four seasons combined. And what really has the program excited is how young this group is. Warrior Run starts five freshmen and three others are freshmen. Warrior Run won three straight games entering the Tri-Town Classic and Stone Allison’s three-run home run highlighted an exciting comeback Friday against Lewisburg as the Defenders turned a four-run deficit into a 10-7 win … Muncy (4-2) has won four straight and earned key wins against defending District 4 Class A champion Benton and rival Montgomery last weekend. The Indians have won 23 straight Mid-Penn games going back to 2021 and have scored at least 14 runs in all four wins … St. John Neumann freshman Andrew Walter is 2-0 after throwing 5 1/3 strong innings of three-hit baseball with six strikeouts in a 3-1 win against CMVT. Kane Wright closed out the win with 1 2/3 hitless innings, striking out three … Jersey Shore is coming together and erased a two-run sixth-inning deficit to beat Milton, 16-12. Connor Griffin hit a grand slam, Gage Martzall a two-run home run and Hunter Enders went 3 for 4 in his first start. Griffin tripled and doubled two days later at Montoursville and Tyler Bauder has three RBIs the past two games … North Penn-Mansfield roared back from 11 runs down Friday at Troy to win a 20-19 slugfest in a game which featured 45 hits. Derek Litzelman went 5 or 6, Alex Davis 4 for 5 and eight players produced multi-hit performances … Cam Brought has been excelling on the mound and at plate. The Wellsboro senior went 2 for 2 with a triple, double and four RBIs while also throwing 4 2/3 innings of shutout baseball with eight strikeouts in a 10-0 win against Towanda.

Dr. Masse’s Top Five

1. Central Mountain (7-0): In addition to capturing three straight District 6 Class AAAAA championships, Central Mountain has been a run from defeating two-time defending state champion Bethel Park the past two seasons. The Wildcats lost one-run heartbreakers in the state semifinals and first round, respectively, and have a strong group back from last year’s team. That experience, motivation and depth is paying big dividends as Central Mountain is off to one of the area’s best starts.

“This is a great group of guys. They work really hard, and I’m very blessed to be a part of it. It’s fun,” Central Mountain coach Mike Kramer said after the Loyalsock win. “They know they’re right there, but it’s baseball. You’ve just to keep your head up; never get too high, never get too low.”

2. Williamsport (5-1): Williamsport handed Midd-West its first loss in five games, rallying from down two and winning, 10-8 before holding off rival Montoursville, 14-12. The Millionaires struggled at times on the mound and field, but gutting out two wins against quality opponents and winning when not at their best is an encouraging sign. Williamsport has scored at least nine runs in all five games and pounded out 19 hits last week. Production is coming throughout the lineup, too. Cayden Robertson hit his second home run against Midd-West and is hitting .450 with 12 RBIs. Cole Shuler is batting .412, Deacon Brown .391 and Griffin Vollman has nine RBIs. Williamsport is debuting in the HAC-I this season and has big games today and Wednesday. The Millionaires host Selinsgrove, a 5A state finalist last year, today before heading to Central Mountain.

3. Hughesville (7-0): Speaking of big games, Hughesville also has won today. The Spartans face Mount Carmel with both tied atop the HAC-III standings and Nos. 1-2 in the District 4 Class AAA power rankings. Hughesville scored 18 runs in wins against Wellsboro and Warrior Run and Gage Thomas had two-run hits in both. Hughesville’s focus, though, is not on the opponents ahead, but upon themselves.

“We’ve talked about not being result-oriented on the scoreboard, but being more focused on the execution and then ultimately at the end of however many innings the game goes, the score will take care of itself,” Hughesville coach Chris Kish said. “We have to compete with ourselves before we compete with opponents.”

4. South Williamsport (4-1): Lusk has put together quite a three-game barrage. The sophomore first baseman is 7 for 12 with a home run, three doubles and a whopping 14 RBIs during that span. Shay leads the team in hitting, but it his on-base percentage which really stands out. Shay has a .625 percentage, high enough to make Billy Beane blush, and set the tone against Montoursville with a nine-pitch walk in the first inning.

5. Montoursville (4-2): A team similar to South in that it graduated a lot from last year’s district champion, Montourvsille reversed course following two losses in dramatic fashion. Matthew Conklin hit a two-out, two-run, walk-off home run in Friday’s 6-5 win against Jersey Shore as Montoursville overcame several mistakes. A year ago, Montoursville rallied from five runs down in the seventh at Jersey Shore, winning 7-6 on Cameron Francis’s three-run home run. The victory was exciting, but its real benefit was it seemed to jumpstart Montoursville as it took off and went on to win a third district title in four years. This is a new-look team which has a long way to go, but winning the way it did last Friday could be just what Montoursville needs.

Players of the Week

Braydon Kamerer, Muncy and Michael Davis, Canton: Kamerer has been pouncing on every good pitch he says and was a force in Muncy’s three wins last week. The junior catcher went 6 for 10 with a home run, five doubles and 10 RBIs. Kamerer drove in at least three runs each game and is second among area players with 14 RBIs. Davis also is producing runs in bunches. The left fielder/pitcher went 5 for 11 with a home run, two doubles and eight RBIs in three games. Davis produced at least two RBIs in each game and was one of four pitchers who combined on a four-hitter in a 7-5 win at Northeast Bradford.

Game of the Week

Williamsport at Central Mountain: They once were rivals in the old Central Penn League and now are again in the HAC-I. Williamsport and Central Mountain are the league’s only remaining unbeaten teams, so depending on how the Selinsgrove-Williamsport game goes, Wednesday’s winner could take sole possession. These games have been close throughout the years and Central Mountain rallied from two down to defeat Williamsport, 5-2 a season ago.

–Masse may be reached at cmasse@sungazette.com. Follow him on Twitter at @docmasse