Four years ago, a freshman group joined the Serra Catholic High School baseball team with the Eagles flying high.

After all, Serra was becoming a WPIAL playoff regular.

The team's newbies then were nervous just about maintaining that legacy. Turns out, they did much more than just merely uphold that standard.

The senior group has broken new ground and taken the program to heights it had never before seen.

"At first, when I was a freshman, I thought that we had a good team, but I didn't know if we could ever live up to those guys [who came just before them]," senior first baseman Curtis Nickel said. "They made the playoffs four years in a row.

"As we played together, the more I felt we were close to something special. After we got that first [postseason] win, we definitely had a lot more confidence coming into this year."

Serra is in the PIAA tournament for the first time, and a five-player senior core is a big reason why. Four of those players -- Nickel, outfielder Adam Cristallini, pitcher Mike Tedesco and outfielder Pete Slovonic -- have been with the team for four seasons. Standout catcher Cam Olsen transferred from Norwin for his junior year.

"I'll be honest," Serra coach Brian Dzurenda said. "When these guys were freshmen, we didn't know what to expect. There's been some physical maturity of kids, of course -- Mike was, I think, 4-11 as a freshman ... When they were forced into starting roles as sophomores, that year those kids were only 10-10. We made the playoffs but it wasn't the best year.

"They've grown into this the past two seasons as the athleticism came out. A lot of these guys have the [WPIAL] football title under their belt and want to add the state baseball title with that. They're athletes."

The story of the football and boys' basketball teams each winning WPIAL Class A championships has been well-publicized. But the baseball team is making some history of its own.

"Since I was a freshman, even though I didn't play that much, every year the goal has been to make it to this point," Cristallini said. "We've gotten better prepared every year, and now it's really happening.

"We're coming together, especially the younger guys are stepping up. It's good for them to get this experience right now. It will help in the future. I'm glad we're here to do it for them."

"It's very special," Tedesco said. "Just moving up through the program every year, to finally make it to states is a good experience. This year has been so much fun."

Last season, the Eagles were 18-3 before being defeated by California in the WPIAL semifinals. Serra followed that with a 13-0 loss in five innings to Laurel in the consolation game, one in which the winner qualified for the PIAA tournament.

This season, after another semifinal loss (this time to eventual champion Carmichaels), the Eagles again played in a consolation game shortened by the "mercy rule." This time, however, it ended under much better circumstances. Serra defeated Union, 10-0, in six innings.

"We lost to Cal [last year] and everyone was really down after that," Nickel said. "We really didn't put any emphasis on the state-qualifying game. This year there was more focus ... We're really excited about playing in [the PIAA tournament]."

After a 3-2 victory against Cameron County in the first round Monday, the Eagles (22-2) will face another WPIAL team, Rochester, today at noon at the Burkett Complex in Robinson in the quarterfinals. The Rams (19-5) were the WPIAL runner-up.

Olsen, who will play at California University of Pennsylvania next year, has been the Eagles' No. 3 hitter since he joined the team.

"Everyone -- one through nine -- can hit the ball well," Cristallini said. "There's no one who can't step up to the challenge and come through with a big hit or make the big play in the field."