It was just a little less than 10 months ago that Charles Henderson dog piled on the infield at Riverwalk Stadium to celebrate a state championship.

But to Charles Henderson head coach Derek Irons it might as well have been 10 years ago.

Irons is a firm believer that baseball is just as much a mental game as it is a physical one. He is always in search of new ways to get his team to buy in to his philosophy.

With many of the players on the 2014 roster having been a part of the 2013 title team, Irons needed to find a way to get all of his players to “buy in” to this season.

Irons and his coaching staff came up with the idea of putting “Team 84” on the back of Charles Henderson’s warm-up shirt to signify “this year, this team.”

“We did all the research we could do, and found the earliest record of baseball here was in 1930,” said Irons. “We assume the school has fielded a team every season, so that would make this year’s team the 84th to play under the Troy High School/Charles Henderson name.”

The shirts are not meant to be just a fashion statement.

The “Team 84” has a specific meaning.

“This team, Team 84, is a once-in-a-lifetime thing,” said Irons. “These 14 players and four coaches are it. For all the guys that were are a part of Team 83, they have to remember that is over. For the guys that will be a part of Team 85, 86 or 87, those days are not here yet. This team is in charge of its own destiny, and can write its own chapter of history.”

Team 84 has seen its share of ups and downs through the early part of the 2014 season. Charles Henderson lost three games in one week during the Jason Armstrong Memorial FCA Classic in early March, suffering its first three-game losing streak since April of 2011

Since then however, the Trojans have won seven of their last eight games, and are poised for another run at an area title and maybe more.

The Trojans will face rival Enterprise in a double header on Friday before heading to Gulf Shores to take part in the Gulf Coast Classic. The Trojans will face Alabama powers Florence, Bob Jones and Pinson Valley, as well as defending Arkansas 5A champion Pulaski Academy.

“These next six games are definitely our toughest stretch of the year,” said Irons. “It is exciting to me. We get to see where we get to stack up and go from there. When we come back from spring break, we have to weeks of area play, then the playoffs. The sense of urgency is getting higher each day.”

The Trojans, currently ranked No. 1 in 4A by the Alabama Sports Writers Association, host the Enterprise Wildcats in a doubleheader Friday at Frazier Field.

First pitch is set for 5 p.m.