By Andy Walter

SMYRNA — With an open state tournament this year, the baseball regular season was never going to be a sprint.

It was a marathon.

And Smyrna High’s baseball team, for one, has reached the finish line still feeling like it’s got something left in the tank.

While the Eagles started the season only 1-4, they finished it by winning four of their last five.

Seeded No. 22, Smyrna (9-9) goes into today’s DIAA state tournament play-in round with a healthy sense of optimism. The Eagles host No. 43 Odyssey Charter (3-12) at 4 p.m. as the 44-team tourney gets underway.

“We did have a pretty tough schedule, but we battled,” senior catcher Logan Unterreiner said before practice on Monday. “I really have faith in my guys right here.

“I think we’re coming out relaxed, with a lot of energy. I think tomorrow will be really exciting for everyone. I mean this is most of our (team’s) first playoff game ever.”

Indeed, this will be the program’s first state tourney appearance since 2016. But the Eagles would have made this year’s tournament even if it wasn’t open.

Smyrna beat both Middletown and Caesar Rodney down the stretch. Earlier in the season, the Eagles also went 10 innings with highly regarded St. Mark’s before losing, 2-1.

“I feel like this is a good team,” said junior second baseman Connor Strauss. “We have a lot of pitching and we’re strong at most of the positions.

“It gives us a new beginning,” he said about the tournament. “It’s been a pretty rough road (in past seasons). But we’re stronger now.”

Vince Clemons is in his second season as Smyrna’s head coach. Of course it’s really his first season on the field after last year’s schedule was canceled by the pandemic.

A retired 30-year state police veteran, Clemons was an assistant to former Smyrna head coach Mike Henderson from 2015-18. There are only three players left in the program from 2018.

“I’ve been talking to other coaches,” said Clemons. “We all feel the same way — you just didn’t know who you had. I brought some kids up last year but I never got to see them play.

“But I think with everything that happened last year and this year, I feel like we’re more of a family. I think we all are excited to be back.”

With a roster that includes seven sophomores and a pair of freshmen but only five seniors, Clemons tried to bring the team along slowly. He got some of his younger players on the field to give them experience.

Besides Unterreiner, the other four seniors are Mason Drummond, Dalton Leager, Shawn Manering and Jeremy Netsch.

“We have some talent, we’ve got some pitching,” said Clemons. “Early on, we just didn’t hit. I felt like the last five to seven games, we’ve been hitting. I think we got hot at the right time — I hope it continues.

“We’ve been preaching to them all year, that if certain guys start getting hot at the end, we could make a run.”

Clemons said he believes Smyrna has five or six solid pitchers. Of course, the Eagles will need a lot of pitching to make a run in the state tournament.

A team playing in today’s play-in round would have to win six tournament games to win the state title.

The winner of the Smyrna-Odyssey game plays at No. 11 Delmar on Thursday.

The Eagles are ready to give the tournament their best shot, though.

“I’m pretty excited because it gives Smyrna a chance to represent,” said Strauss. “We could prove ourselves to the state. ... We’ve beaten some pretty good teams.”

“I feel like no team really stood out this year,” Unterreiner said about the state as a whole. “Everyone’s had a chance. I feel we have a good chance. If we just get hot, we’ll be good.

“At practice, I feel like we’re being relaxed. We’re not uptight. We’re just getting better every day.”