(Avoca) -- The second year of Trey Brix's reign as AHSTW head baseball coach is off to a 3-1 start.
The Vikings started the year 3-0 with wins over Boyer Valley, Stanton and Audubon. Their first loss came Thursday night against Tri-Center.
"We've done a much better job doing the little things right," Coach Brix said. "We're throwing strikes, getting ahead in the count and making guys earn it. Defensively, we've played decently. And we've put the ball in play a lot. Those are things we didn't do very well a year ago, so we stressed that a bunch."
This season is the second for Coach Brix at the helm. He took over the program from long-time head coach Jason Holst last season. The Vikings were 7-14 a year ago with only one senior in the lineup.
"Last year, we were a young bunch," Brix said. "It was a big learning experience for the boys and myself. We worked hard in the offseason. I have a good group of guys that are young but willing to work hard. We're leaps and bounds ahead of where we were a year ago."
Junior Caleb Hatch leads the offense with .462 average and three RBI. Aiden Akers, Nick Denning, Brayden Lund, Jacob Coon, Braden Fineran, Blake Akers and Ty Nelson also have 10 or more at-bats in the offense through the first four games.
"A year ago, Nick and Brayden hit the ball well," Brix said. "But the other guys struggled at times. We stressed we needed to hit the ball better. I didn't know we'd put the ball in play as well as we have. Our offense is ahead of where I thought we would be in the first week or two. We talked a lot about not getting cheated at the plate. We've done a decent job of that."
Coon, Denning, Lund and Aiden Akers have seen time on the bump for the Vikings this season.
"A year ago, we struggled when we struggled to throw strikes," Brix said. "We felt we could be in every ball game if we threw strikes. Strike one has been a big emphasis. The main thing has been to make everybody earn it, throw strikes and let our defense help us out."
The Vikings are back at it Friday against Riverside. They'll face East Mills (Wednesday) and Underwood (Thursday).
"A year ago, there were a few games where we were beaten before we got there," Brix said. "We've talked about being mentally tougher and just going to compete. We're going into every game expecting to win. That's what we'll keep harping on about."
Hear more with Coach Brix below.
