The Seton Catholic Sentinels just earned their third consecutive 4A state championship tournament berth.

As the adage goes, three times is a habit. But it isn’t business as usual for Seton.

Even on the day the Sentinels once again won a seed inside the top five, one won’t find a squad of lethargic players roaming the field during practice.

They’re fired up.

 It’s somewhat of an unofficial mantra for Seton. Ask coaches and players alike how they’re feeling headed into the first round of tournament play and the answer is similar.

“We’re just fired up. Excited to get going, man,” head coach Brian Stephenson said. “Great time of year.”

The No. 5 Sentinels (19-4) will face the No. 12 Gila Ridge Hawks (17-6-1) at 4 p.m. Saturday on their home field.

As of late, it’s definitely been a great time of year for the Sentinels. The program missed the tournament the three years preceding their current string of bracket berths, with finishes outside the top 40 in each of those seasons.

Seton then vaulted themselves to 4A Desert Sky region championships in 2017 and 2018 before a second-place finish behind the top-seeded Mesquite Wildcats this year. That hot streak lines up pretty well with the start of Stephenson’s tenure at the helm of Seton baseball.

Stephenson came to Seton for the 2015-2016 school year. That first season ended with a 9-18 record, but his Sentinels haven’t lost that many games over the last three years combined. Causation isn’t always correlation, but everyone in the program has seen the impact of Stephenson’s approach.

“He’s all-in on everything. He wants to win,” Athletic Director Matt Mayo said. “You won’t meet a coach who loves his players more than Coach Stephenson.”

Stephenson has worked to create a culture at Seton that understands the effort necessary to make pushes into May baseball.

“We ask them all the time, ‘Do you want to be good or great?’” Stephenson said. “The expectation is that we want to play in big games, and we want to contend for championships. If you’re going to do that then everything has to measure up to that—how you practice, what your attitude is.”

That approach has contributed to some major recognitions for Seton players and coaches alike, with Stephenson taking home 4A Desert Sky Coach of the Year honors in 2017 and 2018.

Over those two seasons, the Sentinels had 12 players earn All-Region first team honors. That accompanies such accolades as Region Offensive Player of the Year, Region Player of the Year and Conference Offensive Player of the Year.

Sentinel senior Mike Kenney, the team’s primary catcher and a presence near the top of the lineup, was first-team All-Region and second-team All-Conference last season. He’s seen all four years of Stephenson’s time at Seton.

“He’s always fired up. I love it,” Kenney said. “He’s one of the most emotional coaches I’ve ever been around, and I think we really feed off of that. It gets us motivated to play another game. He’s a really exciting guy to play for.”

Kenney has been a major contributor for the Sentinels this season, getting on base more than half the time and slugging .583 across 22 games. Just don’t mistake his plate discipline for complacency.

“Mike Kenney is one of the most competitive kids I’ve ever seen,” Mayo said. “He could suit up for the Diamondbacks tomorrow and he’d be fine with it.”

Kenney is one of seven seniors who are crucial to the success of this Seton squad.

“Our seniors are really experienced kids. They’ve played a lot of meaningful baseball games the last four years,” Stephenson said. “They’re great leaders and they set the tone for us.”

Of those seniors, one of the most consistent pieces in Seton’s rise to prominence is pitcher Luke Bell.

“Luke Bell’s been a starting pitcher since he was a freshman,” Mayo said. “That doesn’t happen very often. No. 1pitcher for four straight years.”

Bell’s most impressive season has been his senior campaign, one in which he logged a 2.30 ERA across 42.2 innings. Opposing batters hit .196 against him and struck out once every three plate appearances.

The consistency Bell has shown on the mound has made choosing the starter for Saturday’s game an easy decision for Stephenson.

“He’s our ace. Every big game we’ve had the last four years, he’s been in the middle of the diamond,” Stephenson said. “If I have to play a game, I want him on the mound. That’s how much confidence I have in him.”

Ryan Johnson, another of Seton’s seven seniors, had the loudest 2019 season of all the Sentinels. It was also one of the most transformative.

Over 82 plate appearances, Johnson had a slash line of .529/.610/1.129 this season. Nearly two-thirds of his 36 hits went for extra bases, including seven home runs.

“He has unbelievable athletic ability,” Mayo said. “There was a game where he struck out in the first inning and the whole stadium was confused. I don’t even think he knew how to act.”

Johnson has only struck out 13 times this season. 

His extreme power output has him ranked eighth in Arizona and 29th in the country in slugging percentage. He’s even higher up on the RBI leaderboards with 44, ranking third in the state and tied for 19th in the U.S.

His performance has brought out some bold predictions from his teammates.

“Ryan Johnson: Player of the Year,” Kenney said.

Stephenson and these seniors have seen the Sentinels get as far as the third round of the tournament, but there’s a hunger for more.

Still, the focus stays on the short-term. 

“This time of year, you’ve got to take them one day at a time or you’ll be done,” Stephenson said. “The most important game is Saturday and that’s all we’re thinking about.”

A five-game win streak to end the season pushed the Hawks to the top of the 4A Southwest region, following with a win over the Walden Grove Red Wolves in the tournament play-in game.

“Every team in the playoffs is good,” Stephenson said. “You have to play well, or your season will be over.”

The competition is tough across the bracket, but Stephenson and the Seton seniors have something that may play well to their advantage: They’re fired up.