When laying the foundation for a championship program, one must consult with a champion to gain that valuable experience.

The Thompson baseball team needs to look no further than its second-year head coach Frankie Perez for that advice.

Having already won a championship at Hazel Green High School, Perez is looking to build a winning culture for the Warriors baseball program.

It is clearly working.

The Warriors are off to a 17-0 start entering tonight’s game against Shelby County and are ranked No. 2 in the first Alabama Sports Writers Association Class 7A poll, trailing only defending champion Central-Phenix City.

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Perez said part of the key to success is self-reflection.

“In the off-season, we worked on the mental aspect of the game and how to deal with failure,” he said. “These days in life, these kids have a phone in their hands, and they want instant answers and instant gratification. We’re trying to teach them it’s baseball. If you have three hits out of ten, you still fail seventy percent of the time, and that’s pretty good.

That’s something that I, as a coach, think I failed them last year. In teaching them how to fail. We did a lot of studying in the fall. We read books, listened to podcasts and talked among each other.”

The Warriors finished last season just above .500.

Unsatisfied with their record, Perez and staff turned inward to get the most from the team. He began modeling a more relaxed behavior to deal with tense moments.

“The guys that played with me six years ago would call me soft now. Because I don’t yell, I’m calm, and I try to breathe,” he said. “If I’m trying to teach that to my guys, then I have to lead by example. I work on myself before I tell my players to do it. If they see myself doing it, they know I bought into the stuff I’m trying to teach them.

“In the coaching world, if you want to be a good coach, you have to evolve. You have to learn from your mistakes. If you don’t learn from them, you’re going to be the same average coach and leader. I’m trying to be the best leader of service that I can be. For our coaching staff and our players.”

Thompson’s perfect start has included wins over Mountain Brook, Chelsea, Calera, Sparkman, Helena and Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa. The Warriors beat Shelby County 10-4 on Tuesday on the road. The rematch comes tonight.

“Early on the season, we played a good Mountain Brook team, a good Chelsea team, and a talented Gardendale team,” Perez said. “In all those games, we were either behind or tied going into the last inning and were able to come back. I knew then, after the first three games, that something special is happening.”

Perez gives the credit to the players when speaking on their winning streak.

“Great players, that love each other, and they bought into what we are trying to do. They have truly shown me that our work in the fall and preseason has helped them become the team they are now,” he said. “I see guys in the dugout genuinely being happy for their brothers performing and, when I make changes, the guys that were starters are genuinely happy for the other guys when they perform. As a coach, that’s special.”

Junior second baseman Bray Smith likes the chemistry on the team.

“We have a lot of leaders. We have three captains. They all are juniors,” he said. “Everybody is a leader in their way.

“We came into the season, we weren’t ranked in the top ten, and we were like, alright, we’ll take that. We’ll show you this. So, we go 0-0 every day and keep going. We just love to win. Winning is fun.”

Though the team hasn’t lost yet this season, Perez knows hardships will come.

“I’m waiting for us to get punched in the mouth and get beat. To see how we deal with that part,” he said. “Throughout this year, we have gotten behind, but our guys never freaked out about it.”

Perez knows there is always room for improvement.

“I think we need to get a little bit better with runners in scoring position. Make sure we get those in when we have a chance,” he said. “I think we get too flat for my taste in the dugout. We need to keep the intensity throughout the game.”

The road to the finish line and a state championship won’t be easy. The Warriors face stiff competition in Class 7A, Area 5 with No. 10 Hoover, No. 6 Vestavia Hills and No. 5 Tuscaloosa County.

“These are four teams that can beat anybody on any given night, and two of them will be sitting at home (for the playoffs),” Perez said. “The challenge is you need to win in April, because that’s all that matters. Right now, it’s great to be 16-0 (now 17-0), I love it, and I’m proud of the guys. But at the end of the day, it’s about April. When you face those monsters that made the playoffs last year. If you think about it, out of the four teams in the area, the only one that didn’t make the playoffs was us.”

Thompson faces a tough stretch this weekend. After tonight’s game against Shelby County, the Warriors host Class 6A No. 5 Cullman and reigning 7A champ Central-Phenix City on Saturday.