While there’s no bodies or buried treasure hidden beneath the softball field behind Mathews High School, there is a graveyard of sorts hiding underground.

After the season ends, it’s become a tradition for the outgoing seniors to bid farewell to their spikes, burying them underneath where they played in the field.

After reaching the state final four last year, Mathews and its senior class of eight have their eyes set on postponing that tradition as long as they can. If all goes well for the Mustangs, they’ll postpone the ceremony until the middle of June.

“The senior class has taken a step further every year,” Mustangs coach Jim Nicula said. “That’s been our goal. Number one is to win the league and then the other one, we don’t say, ‘Oh, you’ve got to win a state title.’ Let’s just advance further than last year and you have the ability to be playing in June and win a state title. That should be a goal 100%, especially with who you have coming back.”

Everyone from last season’s 26-6 regional championship squad returns for Mathews, and it all starts from the circle out.

The duo of Olivia Matheny and Ashia Pate return to occupy the main pitching roles for the Mustangs this season.

Matheny is one of three players to return this season with all-state honors as decided by the Ohio High School Fastpitch Softball Coaches Association. Matheny was a first-team all-state infielder, Maddy Hufford received second-team honors behind the dish at catcher and Mia Delgarbino was an honorable mention in the outfield.

Add in players like Kelsie and Kennedy Newson, Giona Torres, Ava Shugart, Allie Ramsey, Rilee Paddock, and the Mustangs have a lethal lineup from top to bottom.

As long as they stay level-headed, Nicula anticipates a long playoff run for his girls.

“The only thing that’s going to stop them is them, and that was kind of the theme last year,” he said. “If they can control the mental aspect of it, they’re going to be extremely hard to beat. They’ve got to show up and play the game and be ready to go every single time, and can’t have distractions or outside things like that. If that happens, they’ll be very happy come June.”

Last season’s 5-3 defeat at the hands of Monroeville served as a lesson that only fueled a hunger in Nicula’s group.

“It just gets better every year,” Nicula said. “They know the game. They’re learning how to play the game more and more and all the little intricacies and figuring out how to solve opposing pitchers and knowing the batters that they’re going to face. Seeing weaknesses there that they can take advantage of. They don’t like to lose the last game of the year. I know they’re ultra competitive and hungry for another league title. I know they definitely don’t want to give that up.

“They’re playing so much ball that you can’t help but get better when you play it nine months out of the year, basically. Whether it’s high school, travel or winter league, they love it. That’s the key thing. They wouldn’t put that much time in our winter workouts (if they didn’t love it). We have no less than 14 to 17 kids every single time. You have winter sports going on and cheerleading for basketball games and everything else, but these kids still put the time in.”

With lofty expectations comes a challenging road to get there. While moving to Division VII with the expanded format, that doesn’t mean Mathews is taking it easy on the schedule. Marysville and Grove City both are competitive Division I schools, as well as facing teams like Berea-Midpark, Elyria Catholic, Wooster Triway and a much-improved league slate.

While it’s going to be a tough season, the emphasis is on enjoying the moment.

“We’re really emphasizing to them to enjoy every single moment of this year,” Nicula said. “Every practice, every scrimmage, every time we do anything together. This is a group that isn’t checked out at all. There’s nobody like, ‘I’m ready to go to college.’ They want to embrace the season. Most of it’s driven by the competitiveness end of it, but I want them to have a ton of fun too.”

Mathews opens the season up on the road against Pymatuning Valley on March 31.