SLIPPERY ROCK — As the losses began to pile up at the beginning of his high school coaching career, Glenn Sharrar kept smiling.

Sharrar's top mission as the newest face of the struggling baseball program at Slippery Rock High was to keep everyone positive.

That meant clapping his hands instead of throwing them up in disgust. That meant a pat on the back instead of a shove to the bench.

It was by no means easy for Sharrar to accentuate the positive during an 0-7 start this season.

"I tell you what, it was rough," Sharrar said. "But we were able to keep a positive spin on it. We lost two of those games by one run. We were playing bigger schools, and we took our lumps and got beat up pretty good.

"But it may have actually helped us in the long run. It toughened us up."

Since the stumble out of the gate, the Rockets, 2-3 in the region, have won three of four games and find themselves in the thick of a playoff chase.

Against Grove City Wednesday, Sharrar had four sophomores and a freshman in his starting lineup.

"We've now played everyone in the conference once and everyone we've seen, we feel we've been competitive with," Sharrar said. "We're definitely getting experience and building confidence. After that losing streak, winning three straight, we felt comfortable, confident. We never felt that way last year."

Sharrar was an assistant coach last season under Evan Agona as the Rockets struggled through a 4-15 campaign.

Sharrar already has run the gamut of emotions in baseball.

A 2002 Seneca Valley graduate, Sharrar was a standout pitcher during his senior year.

He went to Potomac State (W.Va.), but he never threw a pitch after suffering a shoulder injury during a fall practice.

Sharrar left Potomac State and played at Butler County Community College and at Lock Haven, hitting over .300 as a position player at those stops.

Last summer, Sharrar was the pitching coach for the Butler BlueSox in the Prospect League. He'll be back with the BlueSox this summer.

"I was glad to see that Glenn's abilities were also recognized by the school board and athletic department at Slippery Rock," wrote BlueSox general manager Leo Trich on the club's Facebook page. "It wasn't all that surprising that Glenn was given that position. (Even) at his young age, Glenn has proven himself to be a respected coach."

Sharrar's task now is to provide stability to a program that has been a revolving door for coaches in the past decade.

Sharrar is the program's fifth coach in the past 10 years. He plans to stay for a while.

"I tell them that if they just learn something each day, we'll be in good shape the next few years," Sharrar said. "We just need to keep building and not get discouraged."

Better days may not be all that far off.

Sophomores Andrew Geraltowski, Sean White and Connor Hogue anchor the young pitching staff, and freshman Mitch Robinson is showing promise.

Catcher Tyler Little is a junior and leadoff hitter Sam Furrh is a sophomore.

The growing pains sting now, but Sharrar is hopeful they will turn into the pleasure of winning later.

"They are starting to buy into what we are teaching," Sharrar said. "I'm their third head coach in four years. That's tough. But we're definitely getting experience and building confidence each day. I feel this year we've already gotten better."