Hetland had the right mixture for 2017 season

George Robinson
USA TODAY NETWORK-Tennessee

High school baseball's postseason has its forgiving side. District and state tournaments are double-elimination affairs.

But region semifinals and sectional games are where the forgiveness ends. It's winner-takes-all atmosphere creates an air of excitement and it can be a cause for heartache.

Clarksville High coach Brian Hetland

Clarksville High found out just how difficult a pill it can be to swallow after the Wildcats lost to Beech in the Region 5 semifinal last month.

Yet when looking back at Clarksville's season, there's nothing that suggest heartbreak. The Wildcats were the regular season and District 10 tournament champions, beat the eventual Region 5 champs (Northeast) three times, including in the district tournament championship and had 31 wins.

The season was far from tragic.

And for another season, Clarksville coach Brian Hetland has been named The Leaf-Chronicle All Area Baseball Coach of the Year.

"Our setup in the postseason can be tough," Hetland said. "But it can aslo be rewarding. But for us, Beech was upset in its District (9) tournament so we had to face one of the better midstate teams right off the top of the region tournament."

Yet Hetland was proud of what his kids were able to accomplish and how they set out to accomplish it.

Hetland prides himself on defense and pitching. Clarksville had one of its best defensive seasons since Hetland took over the program in 2010. He was blessed with three pitchers who could dominate the mound in Cody Spurgeon, Teal Young and Luke Chiclutt and six seniors who will all attend college, five of which will play baseball at the next level.

Clarksville coach Brian Hetland leans over the fence in the Wildcats dugout watching second-inning action against Waverly in the William Workman Invitational Friday in Clarksville.

"It couldn't have been a more enjoyable season," Hetland said. "I don't regret any of it. the only thing I regret is that the guys didn't get to go further. But it's like that every year for every team except the one team that wins the state championship."

The Wildcats were state ranked much of the year and lost only one district regular season game all season (13-1, 31-6 overall).

"It was a great group of kids and high academic kids as well," Hetland said. "They learned a lot of but the most important thing is they applied what they learned. That made them fun to coach."

Reach Prep writer George Robinson at georgerobinson@theleafchronicle.com or (931) 245-0747 and on Twitter @Cville_Sports.