As he sat in the bus on the way home Thursday from Coca-Cola Park in Allentown, Schuylkill Haven assistant coach Dennis Siket pulled out his phone and started searching.
"Who do we play next?" everyone associated with the Hurricanes wanted to know after claiming the District 11 Class A championship with a 6-0 win over Tri-Valley.
Siket searched and searched for the next two days. From website to website, he was able to find out Haven's opponent was District 12 champion Jules Masterman High School in Philadelphia, but not much more.
He wasn't the only one.
As I tried to put together a preview capsule for Monday's state playoff opener, information was scarce.
Team nickname? Couldn't find it.
Statistics? Nowhere to be found.
The Blue Dragons did have a page on MaxPreps.com where I was able to obtain their schedule, results and a roster, but the
head coach's name wasn't there.
The District 12 website had a link to the Philadelphia Public League standings, but no playoff brackets like other PIAA districts had.
Going into Monday's PIAA Class A first-round game, Schuylkill Haven really didn't know anything about its opponent except its name and that Masterman was 5-10.
"You search and search and search, and you just can't find anything," Schuylkill Haven coach Scott Buffington said. "I don't think anybody is trying to hide some secret information, but it just wasn't there.
"OK, let's just go play. That's what we did."
Modern technology has made it 10 times easier for high school baseball coaches to scout their state playoff opponents than when Buffington and the Hurricanes last competed in the PIAA playoffs in 2004.
While nothing beats actually seeing a team in person, MaxPreps.com, PIAA district and newspaper websites, sportswriters' blogs and videos on Facebook and YouTube make it easy for coaches and players to obtain information about opposing teams.
Every little bit helps when preparing for a game.
Most of the District 12 teams, however, haven't quite caught up to modern technology. That's not just in baseball. It goes for other sports as well.
The Philadelphia Public and Philadelphia Catholic League schools dominate the PIAA playoffs in basketball. That's their primary focus. Information there is plentiful. Other sports, not so much.
In baseball, where there are only eight Class A teams in District 12, the level of competition is much lower than that of the teams from District 11, as evidenced by District 12's 1-7 record in PIAA baseball games.
Those schools, however, compete against Class AAAA and AAA schools on a regular basis. Facing a team with a losing record seems like an easy victory ⦠but could be a trap waiting to spring on an unsuspecting team.
"Does it make you more comfortable as a coach knowing what they might or might not be able to do?
"Yes," Buffington said. "It's that air of secrecy or mystery.
"Was this kid hurt? Was this kid hurt? Did this kid just come back? You just don't know.
"Records are very, very deceiving. So we're going to do what we're going to do."
Tamaqua coach Jeff Reading was in a similar situation for the Blue Raiders' Class AAA first-round game against District 12 runner-up Franklin Towne Charter.
What helped Reading, however, was the Blue Raiders played FTC in last year's state playoffs, and Franklin Towne had a fully updated page on MaxPreps.
"You look on the District 12 website and try to get information on who they played and what the scores were, and the District 12 website doesn't have any information," Reading said.
"I looked on MaxPreps, saw their stats, and they had some impressive numbers. You see that, and you try to tell your kids, 'This is what they're bringing to the table.'
"It's the state tournament. They earned the right to be here. Better be ready to play."
In his 37th season, Buffington said the lack of information on Masterman didn't affect his coaching philosophy. He prepared his Hurricanes to play, no matter how good the opponent.
"We're going to do what we're going to do," he said.
"If they're throwing a guy that maybe throws it 95 mph, we're going to try and handle it. If they're throwing a guy who throws 65 mph, we're going to do our best to handle it.
"We have to throw strikes, we have to play defense, we have to roll the ball."
All-ABCA Teams
The Anthracite Baseball Coaches Association recently announced its 2014 all-star teams:
Division I
Brett Kosciolek, 1B, Tamaqua; Troy Moyer, 2B, Blue Mountain; Bo Rottet, SS, Tamaqua; Matt Smarkanic, 3B, North Schuylkill; Jed Blankenhorn, OF, Pine Grove; Darion Jacoby, OF, Pottsville; Shane Grapsy, OF, Blue Mountain; Matt Roberts, C, Tamaqua; Sean Greenawalt, UT, Blue Mountain; Eli Nabholz, P, Pottsville; Travis Blankenhorn, P, Pottsville; Austin Fick, P, Pine Grove
Coach - Mike Welsh, Pottsville
Division II
Aaron Fritz, 1B, Minersville; Ryan Fink, 2B, Schuylkill Haven; Kyle Kaledas, SS, Nativity; Hunter Bordner, 3B, Tri-Valley; Jeff Yordy, OF, Nativity; Zavier Webb, OF, Schuylkill Haven; Anthony Agosti, OF, Marian; Luke Heffron, C, Minersville; Devin Masser, UT, Tri-Valley; Dylan Stephen, P, Minersville; Nick Behm, P, Schuylkill Haven; Stephen Sedesse, P, Williams Valley
Coach - Bob Felty Sr., Tri-Valley
All-Academic Team
John Toomey, Pottsville; Jared McCabe and Jed Blankenhorn, Pine Grove; Dave Kyslinger, Blue Mountain; Bryce Micciche, Jim Thorpe; Austin Paisley, Frank Nietz, Peter Baddick, Nick Menighan, Chris Weber, Nick Kubishin, K.J. Snerr, Dante Salerno, Robbie Hinkle, Marian; Aric Foster, Dylan Palamar, Tyler Hunyara, Nativity; Matt Roberts, Collin Hashin, Dave Pedron, Zack Brown, Spencer Tobin, Mitch Haney, Minersville; Danny Blugis, Mike Ulsh, Vinnie Fanelli, Schuylkill Haven; Nick Gurski, Ian McCole, Eric Macker, Shenandoah Valley
(Boyer is sports editor and covers high school baseball for The Republican-Herald. Follow him on Twitter @pubsportsboss)