SOUTH WHITLEY — There’s no sense in beating around the bush, the Whitko baseball team wants some hardware.

The Wildcats have eclipsed the 20-win mark in each of the past three seasons but have yet to get any championships to go along with those win totals, whether that be in the Three Rivers Conference or sectional.

“We really want to make a deep run this year, and it’s unique because this senior class has played together since elementary school,” said senior Tanner Gaff. “We all want this school’s first baseball sectional title.”

Gaff is just one of a large group of key returners for the Wildcats and they all share that hunger for further success.

“We always work hard in the winter and it has translated over to the spring,” Gaff continued. “We’ve had a lot of guys work even harder this offseason so we hope to surpass 20 wins again this year. Our team goal, and my goal, is to win conference and sectional titles this season.

“It’s been a long time since Whitko baseball has won a conference championship (1985) and we have never won a sectional title. We’d like to change that and put Whitko back on the map.”

Gaff returns after a successful junior campaign in which he hit for a .381 average, one of five returners to hit north of .300 for the ‘Cats last season. The others were Landen Goff (.333), Drew Bradford (.376), Hunter Sroufe (.382) and Riley Anderson (.400). Gaff, Bradford, Sroufe and Anderson all also knocked in 20 or more RBIs last season. Garrett Smiley returns as another key piece for the Wildcats with 19 RBIs and 14 stolen bases during his junior campaign.

Finally, Gaff will enter the season as Whitko’s No. 1 pitcher. The senior had a 3.71 ERA in 2015 and recorded 73 strikeouts. Alex Robbins holds down the No. 2 spot in the rotation for Erik Hisner’s squad while a trio of players will fight for the third spot.

The crop of returning players, which also includes Garrett Cokl, Zach Hewitt and River West, has Hisner excited for the possibilities.

“Yes, we lost two key players, but on paper this is the most talented and experienced I’ve had in my ten years at Whitko,” stated Hisner. “And yes, we’ve accomplished all of our regular season goals over the last five years. It’s time to take the next step and win a conference or sectional championship. If we don’t, this season will be a failure. We believe we have the team to get the job done.”

The postseason outlook will be slightly different for the Wildcats as they drop down to 2-A for the sectional this year, but Hisner knows that doesn’t make the goal any easier to achieve.

“Even though we dropped a class to 2A, I don’t believe our new sectional is any easier,” Hisner offered. “Defending regional champion Lewis-Cass has to be the favorite along with an always tough Oak Hill program. And the team that no one is talking about is Wabash. They return many key players from last year’s team and are primed for a breakout season.”

In addition to Wabash, Whitko will be joined in that sectional field by other Three Rivers Conference foes Rochester and Manchester.

In the TRC race this season, the Wildcats once again will have a shot at the title but will have their work cut out for them with favorites Peru, Southwood and Tippecanoe Valley all returning strong rosters as well.

Whitko starts its season Saturday at home with a double header against Marion. First pitch is slated for 11 a.m.

Warsaw Tigers

Key Losses: Tyler LaFollette, Kevin Hawley, Ryan Marshall, Ethyn Bradley, Cole Baker, Brad Christenberry, Jonathan Murphy.

Key Returners: Sterling Hay, Zach Witt, Marselo Rodriguez, Blake Foreman, Justin Kerschner, Kenton Cornell, Isaac Lenon.

Key Newcomers: Luke Baker, Corbin Sloan, Alex Miller, Jordan Steffensmeier, Braxton Tennant.

Coach Mike Hepler’s Comments: “Our team chemistry is really good this year. We look forward to a season to turn things around and win our conference and sectional.”

Wawasee Warriors

Key Losses: Wawasee graduated 13 seniors that all contributed key roles in 2015.

Key Returners: Lucas Garza, Chase Rookstool, Harrison Shortill, Rylan Kuhn.

Key Newcomers: Tim Conley, Gavin Bontrager, Cayden Wegener, Jairus Boyer, Rieder Hunley.

Coach Brent Doty’s Comments: “We had 13 guys graduate last year and essentially have a brand new team this year but our message doesn’t change, it’s still the same goal. We’re still going to strive for an NLC and sectional championship. I think we’ve got the guys that can do those things this year. They’ve learned from last year’s seniors. Those guys laid the foundation and now there guys are going to build on it. Hopefully we’ll get over that hump and knock NorthWood, or somebody else, off this year.”

Triton Trojans

Key Losses: Landon Kaufman, Cordale Keyser, Grant Stichter, Spencer Glingle.

Key Returners: Nate Flenar, Zac Pitney, Dylan Hensley, Payton Westafer, Max Slusser.

Key Newcomers: Billy Smith, Delano Shumpert, Ryan Kaufman.

Coach Brad Hargrave’s Comments: “This is our first season in a new conference and also a new sectional but when you have a good group of baseball players that work hard and are dedicated like these guys are, I see good thing happening for Triton baseball.”

Tippecanoe Valley Vikings

Key Losses: Drake Hyden, Gabe Harlan, Jarred Littlejohn, Austin Perdieu.

Key Returners: Luke Helton, Alec Craig, Brandon Webster, Gavin Bussard, Eric Hammer, Garrett Bell.

Key Newcomers: Lucas Walters.