LOVELOCK, Nev. – The North Tahoe High School baseball season has come to an end following two matches in the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association (NIAA) 2A State Baseball Playoffs on May 15-17 at Pershing County High School.

The team lost in a close match against Lake Mead Christian Academy in the first round of playoffs on Thursday, May 15. This placed the Lakers in a match against Yerington High School the following day, the loss of which pushed them out of competition.

Despite the state championship playoff losses, coach Sean Whelan says there are a number of successes to take away from the experience and season. For one, it has built the team’s confidence as they now know they belong in regional and state championships.

“Success like this year is contagious,” Whelan says. “It sets a new bar for these kids.”

In his 12 years of coaching, the playoff game against Lake Mead was potentially the best game Whelan has been involved in, he explains.

Lake Mead is an extremely competitive team as a league leader with a 26-1 overall record for the season. Athletes from Lake Mead have been known to progress to the college level. Lake Mead finished the playoff as this year’s state champion, but not before North Tahoe challenged them with one of the closest matches of the entire playoff.

The Lakers’ game against Lake Mead went to the bottom of the seventh inning in what Whelan describes as a nail-biter of a match. North Tahoe only lost to Lake Mead by one run with a 2-1 score due to a mistake that Lake Mead capitalized on, as Whelan retells.

“The team recognized that they had opportunities to win that game and more importantly, can play at a high level,” he says. “Nobody hung their head after that game and it’s only the beginning.”

The coach credits the success to a culture shift that began three years ago. The change has manifested this year with a group of seniors getting a jumpstart on the baseball season by going to the gym as early as December and January. Baseball games don’t start until late-February, early-March.

“That leadership was contagious and suddenly we had 15 kids in the gym on a regular basis,” Whelan recalls.

Incoming talent has pointed to a promising future. “We had a really good group of freshmen this year to match our good group of seniors,” the coach says, who counted on about 2-3 freshman on the starting line up throughout the season.

The team didn’t just show their potential against highly competitive teams at the state playoffs, but also at regionals, beating the No. 1 and 2 seeded teams on the first day.

However, one challenge for the team this year was consistently playing at that high level. Now that the team knows what it’s capable, Whelan says, “That expectation sets the tone for next year and the program.”

The team plans will be building on the confidence this year inspired and establishing consistency in their level of play next year.