If Battlefield High School has a better feel-good story for an entire athletic squad than its baseball team, it sure would be hard to find.

The team may not have the best record among the five BHS teams that won Northwest Regional titles this spring. In fact, like the girls and boys lacrosse teams, the baseball players only came in second during the Cedar Run District tournament after winning the regular season.

Consider just for a moment though everything this team went through during last season's sub-.500 showing and all of the off-season drama with the coaching department. By those metrics, the fact that a team with a new head coach and old wounds can be called champions -- let alone twice -- while still pursuing a state crown is simply stunning.

According to manager Jay Burkhart, seniors Nate Abel, J.T. Brosnahan, Jake Conway, Chris Wendle and John Williams played instrumental roles not just in Battlefield claiming the Northwest Regional title on Friday, but accumulating a 19-5 record overall that's allowed the boys to earn a first-round home game in the state tournament.

"I couldn’t have asked for five better seniors in my first year," said Burkhart.

Homeruns by Williams, Wendle and junior Zach Harris coupled with six strong innings from Harris on the mound led Battlefield for an 8-2 victory on the road in South Boston against Halifax which clinched the regional crown.

Williams opened up the game with a two-run blast in the top of the first inning that went through the back sliding window of a pick-up truck, according to Burkhart as he laughed recalling the dinger.

"It was great," he said, later adding though that Battlefield could have "definitely put (the game) out of reach in the first inning" had they not left runners on base.

Wendle launched a two-strike hanging curveball over the left-field fence in the third inning while Harris belted a liner that cleared the park in the fifth inning.

In between, Conway scored on a Derek Evans RBI after stealing both second and third base outright -- he beat the throw to the bag twice instead of just advancing on a passed ball or wild pitch.

Meanwhile, Brosnahan collected an RBI and Battlefield separated itself from Halifax with a 6-1 margin by the end of the fourth inning.

On the mound, Harris struck out three batters, gave up two homeruns and five total hits while walking four. Junior closer Matt Honkus shut out the comets in the seventh inning to end the game.

"We left that game knowing we were the better team," said Burkhart.