Last year's 5-13 campaign for the Gateway High School baseball team was not all bad for the program.

Many of the six sophomores on this year's team received valuable game experience and those young players have the Gators poised to earn a playoff spot for only the second time in more than six years.

After a 3-4 start, Gateway strung together a six-game winning streak including three one-run wins to go to 9-4 and 5-2 in Section 4-AAAA heading into a section showdown with first-place Central Catholic yesterday. The third-place Gators, behind Central and Plum, have another section game today at Woodland Hills, which is in fourth place.

"We are playing our best ball right now," said coach Jerry DalCanton. "We are in good shape and we have a lot of guys doing a lot of good stuff."

One of the biggest sophomore contributors has been Shane Henkel. As the season went on last year he became the go-to pitcher as a freshman and was the top returning arm for Gateway this season. He has solved some control issues he had early in the season when he was striking out batters but also walking too many.

Against Fox Chapel, a team that scored 29 runs in two games against them last season, Henkel struck out 15 and threw a two-hitter in a 9-0 shutout win.

"The team is a lot stronger this year," said Henkel who plays first base when he is not pitching. "I've been preparing to be the main starter. I have been doing strength training and it has really been helping me. I just hope to keep getting better and progressing and helping this team out."

Henkel has logged 18 innings striking out 28 batters and going 2-1 with a save. He has only allowed one extra-base hit all season.

Sophomores had no choice but to step up on this team after Gateway graduated eight seniors off last year's team. Sophomore Mike Vizzini is another young arm the team has relied on. Vizzini has the lowest ERA on the staff this season at 2.68 and has a 2-0 record.

Two other sophomores, Mike Mulkerin and Rob Kalkstein, have been splitting time at third base. Senior outfielder and pitcher Chris Vergos has the second most innings on the team and has an ERA of 3.00 and a 2-0 record.

Offensively, sophomore Stephen Vranka has one of the hottest bats around. As of last week he was the second leading hitter in the WPIAL with a .643 average.

Senior outfielder Rob Wratcher (.385) and junior second basemen John Sarandis (.424) are two more offensive weapons. Junior shortstop Tom Briley has been filling up the stat sheet from the leadoff spot. He is leading the team in both RBIs (14) and runs (14) and has two home runs while batting .395.

"We have an enormous amount of team speed," DalCanton said. "That puts a tremendous burden on the other team. We have a high team batting average and few strikeouts. We are getting the big hits when we need them.

"We have won a lot of one-run games and I always tell the team that good teams win games decided like that. Our only downfall is to make sure we are consistent with what we do. Sometimes we coast along and save it until the end and I don't want us to develop into that habit."

Juniors Scott Cavrak, the starting catcher who also has been pitching well and Scott Scheinberg at pitcher have also had big seasons with their bats. Cavrak is 1-0 with a save and 11 strikeouts in 11 innings. At the plate, he has a .607 average after 29 at-bats. Scheinberg is hitting .407 and also sees time at first base and DH.

Senior Adam Felton has filled a role as a utility player. He can play first base if Henkel is pitching or catcher if Cavrak is pitching. Junior Ryan Lichtenstein and sophomore Dan Abbenante also see time in the outfield.

"The one thing that this team does is play for each other. They are very goal-oriented and when they are set on accomplishing a task, they seem to come through," DalCanton said.

"We have to continue to stay focused on our goals and we set some lofty goals. We are getting better as the season goes on and we are getting more confidence."