A half-dozen baseballs span the outfield wall at Pierce Field, tracking from right field to left like a fastball spanning the years.

The signs, which commemorate Porters Chapel Academy’s championship series appearances, serve as both a link to the past and a promise for the future. They remind everyone associated with the program where it’s been and where it should be.

If you go

Wednesday, 4 p.m. – Porters Chapel vs. Bayou, at Canton Academy

“We’re proud of those. I want the whole outfield fence to have them,” PCA coach Randy Wright said with a smile.

Wright does indeed plan to add another this week to honor the Eagles’ 2009 South State championship. It’ll happen Thursday night, hours before what he hopes will be a celebration leading to an eighth sign.

PCA faces two-time defending champion Bayou Academy in the MPSA Class A championship series this week. It’s PCA’s fifth appearance in the Class A finals since 2001 and will lead to, Wright hopes, the school’s third championship in that span.

The Eagles’ previous titles, in 2003 and 2006, were spread out enough that they can’t be considered a dynasty. Instead, Wright has another title in mind should his team win — preferably in a cinching Game 2 at home on Thursday.

“We’ve got two (titles). Heidelberg has two, and Bayou has two. We’ve got an opportunity to be the only team with three and so does Bayou. We want to be the team of the decade,” Wright said.

If PCA isn’t the team of the decade, already it is certainly in the discussion. The program has made the playoffs every year since 1999, and has advanced to at least the second round each time. There was a 48-game district winning streak mixed in with state finals appearances in 2001, 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2009, and nearly 200 of Wright’s 299 career victories.

That level of success has created expectations for more.

“You don’t want to be the team that everybody says you have no chance. The team that lets down,” said first-year PCA assistant coach Chris May, who is one of several PCA alumni with two championship rings. He earned one as a seventh-grade benchwarmer in 2003, and another as a sophomore in 2006.

Wright said he often uses the program’s legacy as a motivational tool for his current team, challenging them to live up to their predecessors. And some of those predecessors are often on hand.

May is one of many former players who has returned at various times to help out the current players. Longtime assistant coach Chris Busby was on one of Wright’s first teams in the mid-1990s. Former pitchers Heath Smith (Class of 2001), Andrew Embry (2003) and Ryan Hoben (2004) have all thrown batting practice or helped with workouts this spring. Several others have popped up at playoff games as fans.

“It speaks volumes for our program and what a close-knit family we are out here, and it starts with Chris Busby. He’s my right-hand man. Has been for years. I couldn’t have won anything if not for him,” Wright said. “That they would come back here like that, it means they believe in what we’re doing.”

While PCA isn’t the first program to enjoy long-term success, it has been unique in the way it has done it.

Only once, from 2004 to 2007, has a single large core group of players passed through. Three times, Wright has had to replace eight starters from one season to the next. By bringing along young homegrown players and developing castoffs from other programs, the Eagles have not missed a beat.

Five players in this year’s regular starting lineup are transfers from other Warren County high schools.

“They wouldn’t let me play at Warren Central. When I got to come here, it was an opportunity,” outfielder Gabby Hays said. “Knowing we had a chance to win a state championship was great.”

With two more victories this week, the 2009 Eagles will get to add their own baseball to the outfield wall and become the next link in the chain of champions. And, in the years to come, they’ll try to spur the next generation of Eagles to reach the same heights.

“When I was in ninth grade, I won (a ring) by staying on the team. I didn’t do anything,” said senior catcher Josh Hill, a backup on the 2006 championship squad. “This year, finally doing it yourself, there’s no better feeling.”

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Contact Ernest Bowker at ebowker@vicksburgpost.com