Small schools have a unique problem as many of their athletes are always on the go, playing multiple sports. It can present challenges to get a team together for offseason workouts.

With an extremely young team, Grand Lake baseball head coach Tyler Alton knew he needed to find a way to get the team together during the summer to have time to mesh and acclimate to the high school level.

“We have a lot of kids doing a lot of different stuff,” Alton said. “Like, right when baseball ends, we start football or basketball. We have a lot of (Future Farmers of America) kids. But this summer, they made a commitment, so they played a little bit more year-round, I think than they have in the past.

It wasn’t many games compared to the high school season, but it was enough to pull the team together. The Hornets are 20-6, enjoying their best season since back-to-back state runner-up finishes in 2021 and ’22.

“We played them all in the summer, and honestly, having a good group of young kids somewhat motivated the older kids,” Alton said. “This was the first time that we had a Grand Lake summer baseball team

“We played seven or eight games, but it was just getting acclimated together, especially getting those young kids.”

The Hornets start as many as six freshmen in the games. They are not out to bomb opponents, Alton said, but their offense has been potent.

They have scored 10 or more runs 12 times, and they are aggressive on the bases with 74 stolen bases. The Hornets have won 17 of their last 19 games.

“I think we got to understand more of who we are,” Alton said. “You know, there’s nothing worse than a 115-pound kid trying to hit home runs all day.

“We’re doing a much better job of situational baseball and understanding that each bat is different and each pitch is different.

“(Base stealing) was another thing we worked on in the summer. It was kind of a new school approach, like a little jump lead. We don’t have too many fast kids, but we have some quick kids.”

A pair of two-way players — senior Rylan Young and freshman Law Faulk — have led the way for the Hornets.

Young is the Hornets’ top starter on the mound at 8-0 with 49 strikeouts in 35 innings. He is a threat at the plate with 35 RBIs, three home runs and a .500 batting average.

“He shows up every single day and tries to get better,” Alton said. “He’s such a good kid.

“He’s a very, very humble and quiet kid. Having a kid like that, when you have 11 freshmen on the team and four to seven of them are starting every night, it’s a very good example for 14-year-old kids to see this is how it should be done.”

Faulk, the Hornets’ starting catcher last season as an eighth-grader, is batting .452 with 21 RBIs, 10 doubles and 16 stolen bases and is 5-0 on the mound.

“Having a full season of varsity experience as an eighth-grader, he’s 10 times ahead of where he should be, to be honest,” Alton said. “And I think he’s a little bit more comfortable this year because he’s with all his friends.

“His numbers are crazy for a freshman, and he’s never satisfied. He’ll go 3-for-4, and all he wants to talk about is the one bad at-bat.”