Upon taking over as Heritage’s head coach last spring, Doug Smith’s first order of business was to assemble a staff that would help him maximize the potential of the Pioneers’ returning and upcoming players.

Paul Johnson stepped down after three seasons as Heritage’s baseball coach last week, though he will remain a teacher and return as an assistant football coach for the Pioneers next fall.

Heritage rallied from a 4-1 deficit to post a 5-4 victory over visiting Amherst on Monday in the first round of the Seminole District baseball tournament.

Heritage (11-8) will face Rustburg in Wednesday’s nightcap at Jefferson Forest Middle School in the semifinals.

Both teams pushed across a run in the first, but the Lancers scored three more in the top of the second before the Pioneers rallied with two runs in the fourth and two more in the fifth.

Heritage junior goalkeeper Austin Walker may not routinely make the kind of acrobatic saves that helped turn his idol — Iker Casillas of the Spanish national team — into a star. But he is as sure-handed as any keeper in the area when it comes to making a big stop with the game on the line.

After walking Amherst leadoff batter Jesse Whitt in the top of the seventh with Heritage holding a one-run lead, Pioneers pitcher James Womack rang up his 14th and 15th strikeouts on a night when he threw more than 100 pitches.

He thought he caught Matt Stinnett looking at No. 16 to end the game with Whitt on second, strutting off the mound with a fist pump and a victorious shout. But didn’t get the call, and the Lancers rallied for a dramatic 7-6 Seminole District victory, Friday night at Heritage.

Appomattox’s Dylan Fanney made a nice running catch just short of the fence in centerfield to rob Heritage’s Allen Seufert’s bid to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh inning and preserve the Raiders’ 7-5 non-district victory, Wednesday night at Heritage.

“That ball was hit pretty good,” Raiders coach Joe Caruso said. “(Fanney) is a JV player that I brought for this game. He did a terrific job in center for us. He got a really good jump on a couple of balls. We always preach defense and pitching and we got it (tonight).”

Doug Smith took a year hiatus from coaching football at Heritage this past fall to spend more time with his father, Carl, who is battling esophagus cancer in Rustburg, and oldest daughter, Nichole, a Brookville graduate who played in every game as a freshman on Winthrop University’s soccer team.

After a year away from the sport, both family members encouraged him to get back in the game he loves.

Playing without second-leading scorer Sylvon Jones, who suffered a mild concussion from a car accident earlier this week, Heritage could not muster enough offense to keep up with Liberty’s athletic Minutemen, falling 76-63 Friday in a Seminole District basketball game.

Fueled by eight second-half points from Mandy Dix and a 22-point fourth quarter, the Jefferson Forest Cavaliers pulled away from a tough Heritage squad to post a 51-42 Seminole District victory Monday night.

On a team of only 24 indoor track and field athletes this winter, Heritage seniors Amanda Wimbush and Latavia Laprade have learned the art of multi-tasking to maximize their efforts.

Chris Jones, who guided Heritage High’s football team to its first Group AA, Division 4, state championship in his first season in 2002, resigned as the Pioneers’ head coach on Tuesday.

Members of the Heritage High School band have an extra spring in their step these days after learning that they will attend the Chick-Fil-A Bowl in Atlanta on Dec. 31 after all.

Heritage High School students will sell holiday wreaths and centerpieces this weekend to raise money for the school’s orchestra.

For an offense that’s often pounding out a few yards at a time, Amherst busted plenty of timely scoring plays in its 38-20 victory over Heritage at City Stadium on Friday night.

Despite a scare from Heritage on Friday, Brookville claimed its first Seminole District title since 1996 with a 21-7 win over the Pioneers.

Heritage scored the game’s first points, but the Bees answered with 21 points to give coach Jeff Woody his first district crown since he was a senior wide receiver for Brookville.