GUILDERLAND — Hot streaks can be good. And the Guilderland baseball team always seems to be on one when the playoffs come into view.

The Dutchmen have had deep runs (state finals in 2010), heartbreaking early exits, and epic upsets. If there is just one certainty for Guilderland, it’s that the team will be ready to battle until the very end.

Senior Brandon Peda said that starting slow and finishing strong has become a trend for Guilderland, although not one that it plans for. “We get to where we want to be,” he said after Tuesday’s practice. “We find ourselves like any other team.”

Guilderland has won two Section 2 titles since 2007, and, since 2004, has not missed post-season play — teams must win eight games to clinch a spot.

“Not so bad,” said Dutch Head Coach Doug LaValley.

Whenever Guilderland has its back against the wall, needing a string of wins to extend its season, it finds a way to do it. Then, its brand of baseball gets more interesting.

“The way LaValley coaches, when the pressure is on, everything seems to click,” senior Jack Grabek said. “We seem to play our best toward the end of the year. Nobody ever wants to stop playing.”

Year after year, LaValley has taught the same philosophy: The season is a marathon, not a sprint.

“We seem to get better as the season goes on,” he said. “And it’s survival of the fittest at the end.”

The Dutchmen don’t worry about what any other team is doing, LaValley said. “We feel good,” added the coach. “We control everything we can — effort, attitude, and our approach to the game. As long as we play our style of baseball, we’ll have a chance.”

It’s better to peak later in the season than earlier, but Guilderland pitcher Matt Pierce thinks its wise for Guilderland not to put itself into a situation where it needs a winning streak to get into the playoffs. “It’s an extra push,” Pierce said. “That final push gets us to where we need to be.”

Grabek says it’s easier to play better baseball toward the end of the season because that is when all his teammates know each other the most. “Everyone has your back,” he said.

Last year, as the lowest seed in Class AA, the Dutchmen knocked off Saratoga, and then was beating top-seeded Shenendehowa into the sixth inning before giving up two costly home runs. Win or lose in sectionals, Guilderland never goes quietly.

Grabek said that Guilderland hasn’t shaken that loss to Shenendehowa.

Peda remembers it vividly, saying, “I like being the underdog.”

However, Coach LaValley doesn’t consider Guilderland as a small fry; the Dutch are recognized as a very competitive team. High echelon or not, few opponents want to see Guilderland in the elimination rounds.

Even though Guilderland’s launch to its latest marathon season has been frustrating — three weeks of practice inside a gymnasium instead of outside on a fresh field — LaValley is “absolutely” looking forward to the Dutchmen playing its best baseball when it’s time for sectionals.

LaValley made a comparison to March Madness, the popular term for the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I basketball tournament, which is now in its final stages.

“You want to get in the dance,” he said. “You have to get in.”

^{Know the drill? Head Coach Doug LaValley, right, gives two of his Dutchmen varsity players some direction at Tuesday’s practice; he’s pointing toward second base. Guilderland’s first game of 2015 is scheduled for April 7 at Columbia, weather and field conditions permitting. The Enterprise — Jordan J. Michael}