A year ago, lopsided losses were the standard for Harrison's baseball team. Box scores that read 10-0, 15-0, 21-3 even 30-2 were not uncommon. 

This spring, the Panthers are 5-0. Those five victories are the program's most in nearly two decades for Harrison baseball, according to MaxPreps.com

And it's all thanks to "mudita." 

Taken from the Pali and Sanskrit languages, there's no English translation for the word. But mudita is the concept of unselfish, sympathetic or vicarious joy one feels from delighting in the well-being of others. 

"When somebody else on my team is doing well, I'm doing well," fourth-year coach Max Cupp said. 

Cupp challenged his players to embrace mudita this season and be engaged in the dugout when a teammate is at the plate. The team responded, chants of "Olé" break out for hits and the fervor remains for the next batter. 

Senior David Gomez said this year's culture is different. 

"Last year, we would get ahead. The dugout would be really quiet. It would be silence. But this year, even if it is a bunt, whatever it is, the guys are always hyping up everybody. We got our teammate's back," Gomez said. 

The hype makes a difference. Gomez recalls a 15-0 mercy-rule loss to Colorado Springs Christian last season. Harrison opened the season against CSCS on March 19. Down 3-2, the Lions tested Harrison's mettle with a 4-run fifth inning, but the Panthers remained unfazed, answering with four runs of their own in the bottom of the inning on the way to an 8-6 win. 

Harrison found a similar path to victory against Woodland Park, erasing a 7-1 deficit with a 7-run fourth inning. 

The hot bats are a product of the environment in the dugout. 

"We're just being more aggressive. We just come out here ready to ball. Love this game. We all just want to be here. We all know what we're capable of. ... We execute. Just put up them runs and just have a good time," junior pitcher Santiago Martinez said. 

Gomez said he noticed a change in the team's preparation over the offseason with players committed to baseball. Martinez is a prime example.  

The third-year pitcher had a 16.37 earned run average a year ago. He sits at a team-leading 1.11 ERA on this young season. He also leads the team in batting average (.615) and on base percentage (.706). Sophomore Aiden Mills leads in hits with 10 and RBIs with seven.  

"I just did a lot of work here every day just putting in that work. Just knowing where I want put my baseball, where I want to pitch them," he said. "I always tell myself where I want put it before I throw it."

The players embracing mudita is but one part of the program's success. At every level the team is trying something new.  

This year Harrison built a new infield for the team, putting an end to the dreaded "Harrison hop." 

"We had six inches lower of dirt and we had the Harrison hop," Cupp said. "The infield was so beat up that the ball, you just never knew where it was going to go. ... hit a hole and shoot up over their heads. It was tough to slide. The outfield had some patches that were tough to run on."

The school finished the new infield in February and players routinely take time to rake the dirt, put up and tear down the field for practice each day. Prior to the grand reopening, Harrison practiced on the school's softball field. 

Another departure from seasons past is an expanded coaching staff from three to five, including a coach who specializes in helping with the players' mental skills. 

For the first 30 minutes of practice, the players will work on what the team calls process goals and present-in-moment perfection. 

"That to them is, 'I don't need to focus on the outcome, I don't need to worry about failure, I'm just trying to be present in this moment and focus on what's the next thing that I have to do,' " Cupp said. 

The coaches have increased their accountability as well, involving the parents for team dinners and events with more regularity than in previous years.

It all adds up to a perfect start to a young season. 

Knowingly or unknowingly, assistant coach Cody Lucero has been practicing mudita for a years. 

A Harrison alum who graduated in 2017, Lucero knows the pain of 0-16 and 1-18 seasons. But despite offers to coach elsewhere Lucero knows home is with the gray and black.

"(The losing) never stopped me from loving the game. It never stopped me from wanting to open my mind up to these young men and teach them what I know. Because it makes them better men in the future," Lucero said.

The former player turned coach relishes the work ethic this team shows as it wasn't a common trait among the teams he was a part of.  

"I tell coach (Cupp) this all the time I'm like, 'Dude if I was here right now, we'd go to state,'" Lucero said. 

The Panthers are closer to a state title than they have been in a long, long time but though times are good, the road will be tougher. 

Four of Harrison's five wins came against Woodland Park and Mitchell, which haven't been successful in recent years. The season gets harder as the Panthers look to league play. 

But Lucero and Cupp aren't worried. 

"We just stay with our process, with our game plan and I think we'll see success. It's going to be harder, which we want," Cupp said. 

"And the boys want it too," Lucero said. "They want the competition. They talk about it all the time."