In the immediate aftermath, the loss stung.

Then again, all big losses do -- if they didn't sting, the game probably didn't matter enough to the competitor.

But as Serra baseball coach Brian Dzurenda drew in a deep breath over the phone on Tuesday morning, he was able to take a little step back from the immediacy of his team's 6-2 loss in the PIAA Class A semifinals against Carmichaels.

The loss ended Serra's season at 23-3 and when Dzurenda picked up the phone, he had had about 16 hours to let the defeat fester.

"It is tough to put everything into proper perspective the morning after such a tough one like that, after your season comes to an end and you really thought your team was going to advance and play for a state championship," Dzurenda said.

"But, to look at things, and to step back from it for a minute, I have to be pleased by the way these young men grew physically and from a baseball sense and an intellectual sense. From the first day we got together, to the last day of our season, we grew as a team because every single kid grew as a player individually."

And it started at the top, with a group of senior leaders who served as an extension of Dzurenda.

Three seniors -- Cam Olsen, Adam Cristallini and Curtis Nickel -- were everyday starters for the Eagles. Another senior, Mike Tedesco, was one of the premier pitchers, a bona fide threat to shut out the other squad each time he took the ball.

"In my nine years as coach, this was the best group of seniors that I have ever had," said Dzurenda, a 1990 Serra graduate. "These seniors were leaders.

"Sometimes people just say that, but these guys truly were leaders and they took the younger kids under their wing. You take the younger kids and you ask them, and they genuinely grew close to seniors like Cam and Adam and they looked at those guys and said, 'Yes, those are the leaders of this team.'"

Perhaps the brightest moments of that leadership shone through after Serra lost, 7-3, against Carmichaels in the WPIAL semifinals last month. The Eagles would have to win a third-place consolation game a few days later against Union to earn a spot in the PIAA postseason field.

Faced with a similar situation last season, Serra went out in that third-place consolation game and got embarrassed, 13-0, against Laurel.

But this time was different -- much, much different.

The Eagles dispatched Union, 10-0 in that third-place game, earning a spot in the PIAA field where they beat Cameron County and Rochester before losing to Carmichaels in the semifinal Monday.

"After we lost to Carmichaels that first time, I didn't know what to expect from these guys," Dzurenda said. "To be perfectly honest, last year heading into that [consolation] game, we were not motivated. But, this time, it was totally different.

"We got to the field the next day after being eliminated from the WPIAL playoffs and I had the PIAA bracket printed out and I could see that the kids were hungry to win. Then, as soon as we pulled into that [consolation] game with Union, I knew we were going to beat them right when we got off the bus because of what our body language was and what their body language was."

And this year's team, because of the way Dzurenda was forced to use numerous young players in key positions, has the makings of paying off in years to come.

"This year, our young kids weren't just around it, they were right in the middle of it," Dzurenda said.

"When you have just four upperclassmen who are everyday starters, there isn't time for the younger kids to just be around it; they have to be in it. And this year, they were right in the very middle of it for us.

"That will help, that will definitely help."