When James Barton took over the Woodland Hills High School baseball program two years ago, he was inheriting a team that was a combined 13-21 the previous two seasons and hadn't qualified for the WPIAL playoffs in about a decade.

Barton wants to make sure his successor doesn't face the same daunting circumstances he did.

"I'm going to be with this program for a while," Barton said. "But one thing I'm not going to do is hand this thing over to someone else without it being a winner. Woodland Hills baseball, as long as they keep the fundamentals and the work ethic, will have a chance to win."

The Wolverines are close to taking a monumental first step this season. At 4-4 in Section 4-AAAA play heading into a game Friday versus Central Catholic, Woodland Hills had a chance to secure a playoff berth.

"I think we're on the right path," Barton said of himself, assistant Paul Derenzo and the team. "And hopefully this year if we can accomplish getting into the playoffs, that would be the first stepping stone to building this up and hopefully keeping it there for a long time."

The top returnees include Jason Holt, a senior pitcher and center fielder, Dave Hall, an outfielder and pitcher, outfielder Josh Hoffee and junior shortstop J.J. Tougher. Senior Josh Woolford was second on the team in batting average and leads the team in innings pitched. Hall, Tougher and senior Brandon Herbert also pitch when needed.

Younger players in the starting lineup include freshman catcher Ryon Rocco, sophomore second baseman/outfielder Ryan Alm and second baseman Sean Samsa.

But the player Barton calls "the most talented player on the team by far" is Rob Gronkowski. A 6-foot-7, 255-pound senior, he was one of the top tight end recruits in the country. He signed with Arizona.

Gronkowski enrolled at Woodland Hills after a much-publicized move from the Buffalo area. Obviously a prodigious athlete, he also was named all-section in basketball after averaging 17.4 points per game. But he wasn't sure if he would play baseball this spring, so he asked Barton to watch him work out to see if he should play baseball.

Needless to say, Barton and his staff were impressed with what they saw. Gronkowski was batting .540 through Monday.

"When you're 6-7 and can handle the bat the way he can and play third base like he can ..." Barton tailed off. "He's a baseball player. He might look like a football player, but he's a baseball player.

"You can ask any coach that faced him; he's a beast. His talent is unbelievable. I'm looking to get Rob drafted."

Barton said Gronkowki might even make his season pitching debut soon.

"There were a lot of things going on in football," Barton said. "I think with baseball, nothing is distracting Rob. He just goes out and plays baseball.

"He's special. If I had eight other kids like Rob, we'd be going real far in the playoffs, I'll tell you that."

Barton said the Wolverines started to believe in themselves when they held a 5-1, sixth-inning lead on still-undefeated Plum, the team ranked No. 1 in WPIAL Class AAAA by the Post-Gazette.

"Whether we make the playoffs or not this year, I know for a fact we're on the right track," Barton said.