The Jefferson City baseball team might have been left with a sour taste after losing in the first round of districts last season.
But the Jays, who finished 20-7 in 2013, are past that now. And they're excited about the future.
"They want that redemption factor back, but there's nothing we can do about last year - it's over," Jefferson City coach Brian Ash said. "Our biggest message to our kids this year is, just try to be a better person every day and try to be a better baseball player every day."
With a veteran group returning from last year's squad, Jefferson City has a positive outlook for 2014. The Jays will kick things off today when they face cross-town rival Helias and Springfield-Glendale as part of a doubleheader in Springfield.
Today's twinbill won't mark the first time Jefferson City has taken the field this season. The Jays have 15 official practices in the bag and got the opportunity last week to play eight innings as part of a jamboree at Mexico High School.
So far, Ash likes what he sees from his ballclub.
"We were able to kind of see what we would look like in a real-live game, and I was very happy with how we played," Ash said. "We pitched it, we caught it, we hit it, and we executed when we had to."
Jefferson City loses three key pitchers from last season in Corey Beard, Steven Coots and Cameron Carroll, who combined for 12 wins. But the Jays are also returning a solid lineup that helped the team jump out to an 18-3 start a year ago.
Also joining the team for their senior year are twin brothers Jake and Jackson Walker, both Missouri State signees, who transferred from Edin, Okla last May.
Their dad, Terry Walker, is a Jefferson City native. After retiring from the Air Force last year, Walker moved the family back to Jefferson City and is now a teacher and an assistant football coach for the Jays.
"It's not everyday you get two kids like that - let alone, twins - who can play the game and play the game the right way," Ash said. "The thing I'm most impressed with about them is, they're very humble. When they came in Day 1, they got into our offseason weight-lifting program. They were silent observers, they worked hard and they led by example by how hard they worked."
The Jackson twins have fit in nicely with fellow seniors Rylie Klosterman, Gabe Marcantonio, Hayden Stroble, Alex Johnson, Brenden Ogletree, who will likely see the majority of the innings this season, along with juniors Adam Grunden, Jake Pridgin and Ripken Dodson.
Strobel hit .342 with 25 RBI and scored 27 runs to lead the Jays at the plate last season. Marcantonio hit .370 with 11 RBI, while Ogletree and Klosterman both hit above .300 and combined to drive in 45 runs to help pace Jefferson City.
"Offensively, I think we have a chance to be better than we were last year," Ash said. "I think we're going to be a little more consistent. One through nine, there just isn't really a whole lot of holes. Is a kid going to have a bad day? Yeah, but the opposing team's pitcher is going to have to work to get everybody out."
Jefferson City will also rely on sophomores Logan Schmitz, Blaine Meyer, Garrett Durbin and Gerrit Shirts in certain situations.
"They're all going to play significant roles - whether they come in for an inning to play defense, or they come in on the mound, or they need to pinch hit," Ash said.
Defensively, this team is also up there, according to Ash, who is entering his fifth season at Jefferson City.
Pitching might be the lone question mark - at least early in the year.
"I expect us to have a little growing pains, but we have some very resilient, very competitive kids that are going to be on the mound," Ash said. "They don't like to lose and they're going to compete.
"We just need to pound the strikezone, let the defense make play behind them, get into the dugout and try to score runs."
Travis Hennessy, a two-year starter, is expected to lead the way for the Jays on the mound. The junior right-hander was 3-3 with a 2.95 earned run average and struck out 39 batters in 38 innings as a sophomore.
Bret Jaegers, a junior, is also back after going 5-0 with a 3.50 ERA and 19 strikeouts in 28 innings.
Grunden and Johnson both saw action last season, while Cody Hager, Kyle Irwin, Jeremy Light, Blaine Meyer, Logan Smith and Jake Walker will also be in the mix this year.
Ash will likely throw at least six pitchers in the season-opening doubleheader in an attempt to save arms down the stretch and get a glimpse of who is capable of what, early on.
"We're deep, we've got a lot of guys that can throw, it's just that inexperience," Ash said. "We won't know until we throw them out there in a varsity-type game."
Jefferson City hasn't won a district title since 2007, and that's something the Jays have on their mind.
But that's not necessarily their main focus.
"We've fallen short the last few years, so it's always going to be high on the priority list," Ash said. "There has to be a process to do that, and I think within that process, you have to get better every day; you have to work at your craft every day.
"If you can do those things, then yeah, you're going to put yourself in a position to win a district title."
And that's something Ash is confident his team is capable of.
"It's time," he said. "It's time to make that run, and I think we have the team that can do that."