Timber Creek figured a shaky pitching staff would be the team’s biggest obstacle to overcome at the start of its high school baseball season. But it was a combination of injuries and inexperience the Wolves worked around during the regular season to finish near the top of a competitive Class 6A, District 4.

Earlier this week Timber Creek (21-6 overall, 6-2 in District 4) began postseason play in a 6-5 opening-round win over rival University then got past Boone in the semifinals 3-2 to qualify for the state tournament.

If the pleasant surprise on the year was a pitching staff that routinely threw strikes and got ahead of hitters, the blessing in disguise was being forced to acclimate players into new positions.

“We finally got everyone fully healthy after patching things together early in the season,” said head coach Scott Grove.

First there was the need to slowly ease in senior Tyler Marincov, a huge contributor at the plate and on the mound over the years during his time at TCHS, who suffered a broken hand just before Christmas.

Then came an ankle injury to sophomore Branden Castro and a torn anterior cruciate ligament to junior Ray Guzman, among other bumps, bruises and unforeseen circumstances along the way.

While players were moved around to new positions in order to help fill the void at different times, the Wolves’ pitching staff entered the final week of the season holding teams to a .199 batting average while allowing just 2.24 runs per game.

Leading the way on the mound were senior Jonathan Dydo (6-1 record, 1.60 ERA and 33 strikeouts), junior Johnny Rivera (6-3 record, 2.24 ERA and 50 strikeouts) and senior Travis McPherson (2-2 record, 3.00 ERA and 56 strikeouts).

At the plate, Timber Creek was averaging .394 with senior Jason Anderson (.487 on 37 hits with 27 RBI and 5 home runs), junior Spencer Angelis (.485 on 33 hits with 21 RBI and 5 doubles), McPherson (.472 on 25 hits with 14 RBI and 4 doubles) and Marincov (.438 on 32 hits with 26 RBI and 6 home runs) doing the most damage with their bats.

Also making an impact were two youngsters who figure to be huge contributors over the next few years – following the departure of eight seniors this spring – in sophomore Cody Sharp (.403 on 27 hits with 24 RBI and 4 home runs) and freshman Eugene Vazquez, who is already catching the attention of Division I state schools.

And the momentum gained from regrouping over the second half of the season has carried over into tournament time.

Against University, the young Vazquez hit a two-run homer while the experienced Anderson drove in two runs. Then against Boone, Angelis and Castro each drove in runs to put the Wolves in Friday night’s District 4 title game at Winter Park.

The good news for the Wolves moving forward this season, as single elimination loomed, has been the way they’ve seemed to hit their stride at just the right time.

“These kids have a good chance (to advance), just like any other year,” said Grove before the start of district play last week. “But anybody can beat anybody in our district.”

Since suffering a two-run district loss to Cypress Creek on March 24 the Wolves have won 13 of their last 14 games (and 17 of their last 19), which included winning a tournament title over Spring Break in Sanford.

Their lone loss in that stretch was a 4-3 decision that went the way of Spruce Creek.

Looking back, that four-game tournament stretch at the end of March seemed to serve as the team’s coming of age.

“Those tournaments can work for you, or against you,” said Grove. “If you’re struggling at that time it’s tough to gather yourself before the end of the season.”

But for Timber Creek, who took the title with a 6-4 win over Coral Gables, it seemed as though the season was just beginning to take shape.

Wounds were being healed. Players molded into well-rounded contributors both in the field and from top to bottom in the batting order.

“We saw some great pitching from some of those private schools (in the tournament) and it kind of made us realize we can play with anyone,” said Grove.

Because of that, they entered the postseason expecting a little more from the teams they might be matched up with based on the kind of competition they’d already faced.

And should that confidence carry them deep into regional play, beginning May 4, then this team could be a few bounces of the ball away from putting those trying times behind them for good.