Cole Boswell has a member of the same Phil Hardin All-Star team for four years straight.

All four years, the same group of players has won the Cal Ripken state championship in their age group. Most recently, the 15U Phil Hardin All-Stars captured the title the weekend of July 8-9 in Petal. Now, Boswell and his teammates turn their attention to the regional tournament, which begins Thursday and also takes place in Petal.

Hitting, defense and pickoff attempts were the focus of Monday’s practice, and Boswell said it’s going to take all three of those things in order to repeat the success the 15U All-Stars had a couple of weeks ago. It’s especially important, Boswell added, to start off hitting well early.

“In the last tournament, we didn’t wake up until the fifth inning to start off, but by the last game, we started hitting the ball early,” Boswell said.

His teammate Brock Butler said early success offensively helps set the tone for the game and also puts pressure on the opposing team. 

“If you start the game hitting well, that gets your momentum going,” Butler said. “It gets the other team down, and it helps you focus more, because you’re locked in early.”

Larry Gill, who helps coach the 15U All-Stars, said if any group is poised to make a run at a regional championship — and Cal Ripken World Series berth — it’s this group. Some of them have been a part of the same group of All-Stars for four years, while others are newer players to the group, but they all mesh well, Gill explained.

“They’ve been playing together since they were 9, and all of them can play,” Gill said. “You can play anyone and not lose a beat, and that makes it easier to coach. When it’s easier to coach, it’s easier to win.”

Whether it was from previous All-Star teams, or playing together on travel ball teams, or going against each other in high school baseball, Boswell said the familiarity amongst the players is a positive, because there’s a chemistry among everyone that’s already in place instead of having to develop it over time.

“You want good team chemistry, because if you have people who hate each other, it’s going to be a bad game,” Boswell said. 

Brandrick Thomas said he and his teammates enjoy one another’s company.

“I get to play with kids my age that I’ve known for a long time,” Thomas said. “They’re almost like my brothers, because baseball has made us closer. We all play against each other all the time, and we get to see each other a lot, so we joke around — but when it’s time to play baseball, we play baseball.”

While he knows the competition will be tough, Thomas said the only way to prove yourself is to do it against better-than-average teams.

“I’m looking for us to face some really good teams (in Petal), but if you want to be the best, you have to beat the best,” Thomas said. “We have to minimize the mistakes and not make errors.”

Gill said if he has one bit of advice for his players, it’s to not take any opponent lightly.

“They have to play every game like they want to win,” Gill said. “They have one job to do, and if we do what we need to do, everyone else down there doesn’t matter.”