It really hasn't been that long since the Hurst L.D. Bell baseball team reached the postseason.
The year was 2014 to be exact.
But that can seem like an eternity to a program that is used to winning, like Bell, which last won a district championship in 2011; it reached a regional final the same season.
It seems like forever in the mind of a young man who longed to be a part of that winning tradition.
"It's always been a goal of mine to make the playoffs," junior pitcher Mason Ornelas said. "I always went to the playoff games before I got to high school and watched them, and I remember saying to myself, 'I want that.'
Though he made the varsity team as a freshman, Ornelas had to wait until this season, his junior year, for that to come true. L.D. Bell (19-9) will face McKinney Boyd (16-14-1) in a Class 6A Region I best-of-3 series this weekend. Game 1 is at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at John Paul II. Game 2 is Friday, same time and location with a Game 3, if necessary, at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
Not only is the Texas A&M commit thrilled, so is Bell coach Paul Gibson, who has known that feeling 14 previous times in his 25 years at the helm.
"It's good to be back, especially in this district, as tough as it is," Gibson said. "Our depth has been depleted the past few years."
The Raiders ended the regular season 19-9 overall and 10-4 in District 5-6A. The district wins are more than the past three seasons combined.
How did the turnaround happen? It helps to have seven players who saw some starting action at one time or another last season. It helps even more when you've got a pitching staff that features four strong right-handed arms, including Ornelas, along with seniors Reese Gould, Johnny Sifuentes, and Blake Empkey.
Gould was 9-1 with a 1.88 ERA and 58 strikeouts entering the playoffs. Ornelas was 4-4 with a 1.95 ERA, 54 strikeouts and a save. Sifuentes was 2-1 with three saves, a 2.11 ERA and 40 strikeouts.
Pitching has been the team's mainstay this season with a team ERA well under three runs and team batting average under .250. Ornelas has the team's only two home runs.
But the Raiders are manufacturing runs via small ball, or as Gibson prefers to say, "execution." He also credits the leadership of eight seniors on the roster.
"These guys have been waiting their turn. They want to have their year upon our leader board," Gibson said.
