The Lyle-Pacelli baseball team is about to be heading into some uncharted waters. Luckily for the Athletics, they have a seasoned captain they can lean on as they begin Section 1A tournament play Saturday after having won the program’s first ever subsection title last weekend.

LP has a go-to pitcher and a big-time leader in senior Taylor Arett, who has established himself as the ace and one of the team’s top hitters this spring.

“He gives the young guys someone to look up to. He’s matured over the last couple of years, not only physically, but mentally too,” LP head coach Brock Meyer said of Arett. “It’s been night and day for him on the mound. When you need a big out, he goes and gets it, compared to years past when he may have folded a little bit in those situations. He’s turned out to be quite a good player.”

Arett will start one of the biggest games in LP program history this Saturday when the Athletics (11-7 overall) play Rushford-Peterson (13-8 overall) in the Section 1A semifinals in Riverland at 10 a.m. The winner of that game will be one win away from the Minnesota Class A State Baseball Tournament.

Arett isn’t feeling pressure headed into the game, but he is feeling a little sad that his time is running out with LP. He’s been playing with the Athletics since he was an eighth grader and he’s enjoyed playing the role of a leader on this year’s team, which has a lot of young players in the lineup.

“I’ve loved it. We didn’t get as much baseball in as I’ve wanted to or play as many games as I wanted to, but it’s been a fun ride and I hope we keep going,” Arett said. “I’m pretty confident right now. I have a lot of faith in our guys. We’re young, but we’re good.”

When the snow was falling in April and LP was practicing in the gym, it was Arett who stepped up in early season workouts and showed the young players the ropes. When the season began, he quickly established himself as LP’s big-game pitcher.

“He’s been the guy the whole year,” Meyer said of Arett. “I have all of the confidence in the world in him and I’ll take him against anybody. If we make plays for him and we score a couple of runs, we’ve got a chance.”

Arett said he picked up a lot of lessons from his older teammates when he struggled in his early years with LP. Now he’s near the end of his run with the Athletics, but he’s not done playing baseball as he has committed to play at Riverland Community College.

“Playing at Riverland is a great opportunity and I’m very thankful and blessed for it,” Arett said. “It’s kind of sad that it’s my last year with LP, but I’m very excited that we made it this far.”