Staff file photo / Dan Hiner. Struthers pitcher Drew Chizmar delivers during the third inning of a game against Hubbard on April 6 at Bob Cene Park.

The first few weeks of baseball season went about as poorly as they could have for Struthers.

Suffering from disciplinary issues that led to multiple players being sidelined, the undermanned Wildcats lost seven of their first eight games, capped off by a 15-2 defeat to Ursuline on April 13.

But Struthers, head coach Tom Otto said, never stopped believing.

“We were right there in some conference games,” Otto said. “The Girard series, instead of being a split, it could have probably went 2-0 either way. … And then the Hubbard series was really tight. In one scenario there, I think Hubbard had the infield in and the outfield in; unfortunately for us, Brayden Songer was on the mound, and he got two strikeouts on the road to get out of that situation. But that’s another series that could have been a split or, very easily, gone in our favor, too. So the belief the team had kind of carried us through that.

“I remember John [Schiraldi] at Hubbard grabbed me after the series, and he said, ‘Tommy, you guys are gonna be pretty good.’ He said, ‘Just keep going at it.'”

As the Wildcats kept at it and crucially got more of their players back in the lineup, things started to click.

A day after their lopsided loss to Ursuline to drop to 1-7, Struthers crushed Warren G. Harding 12-0 on the road. To start the next week, the ‘Cats similarly blanked Mineral Ridge 17-0 before beating Brookfield 3-1.

The most promising win, though, came a few days later, when the Wildcats took down Northeast 8 Conference (NE8) rival South Range 3-1.

“I believe it’s the first time that we’ve beaten South Range since the conference was formed and since I’ve been here at Struthers,” Otto said. “That was just a huge win for us momentum-wise. Kind of took the monkey off our back a little bit.”

Since then, the Wildcats have gone 3-1, including a one-run win against West Branch in Beloit last Friday and a series sweep against NE8 foe Niles earlier this week. The only loss in that stretch was a 10-0 defeat against Boardman, a Division II team that Otto said provided his team with a “humbling experience.”

The Spartans were just one of the several higher-division teams that Division IV Struthers scheduled; in addition to their win over Division II Harding, the Wildcats previously played at Division III Alliance and Division II Austintown Fitch.

“I’m proud of our kids, and I’m proud of the schedule that we played. I think just having that experience will get us battle-tested come tournament time,” Otto said.

“I think we had some aspirations coming in from the offseason that we are better, we’ve made strides in the program, and guys are to the point where we can compete. We feel like we can compete with anybody.”

Junior Drew Chizmar has led the way for the Wildcats during their resurgence. A fixture on the mound and in the cleanup spot, Chizmar is batting over .400 and has helped boost the top half of Struthers’ batting order, which includes Anthony Pastella, Michael Scavnicky, Jordan Becker and Eddie Bradley.

At times, Travis McMurray has also batted near the top of the order, as he bounces between second and sixth while remaining one of the Wildcats’ most consistent hitters and an “anchor” behind the plate.

“These guys have really done whatever I’ve asked them to do,” Otto said.

With seven wins in its last nine games and three straight NE8 victories, Struthers has kept itself from being mathematically eliminated from conference title contention. At 4-4 in league play, the Wildcats are two games back of first-place Hubbard and a game back of second-place Poland, which the Wildcats play twice next week in their penultimate NE8 series.

“We’re just ecstatic to be in the conference race. … Our kids haven’t been in that situation in a long time to compete for the title and have a shot in the last couple of weeks,” Otto said. “We’ve weathered some hard times, and hopefully we’ll be a better baseball team because of it come May and June.”