Or, from another perspective, something to be said for adhering to a plan even when it doesn’t start well.

When the hometown Pioneer League team he skippers started 2-11 with a slew of blowout losses, Ogden Raptors manager Evan Parker drew upon his two seasons of pitching at Utah Tech (then Dixie State) when his team twice started 0-7 in campaigns that ended with conference championships.

“I have to stay on my game … I can’t press the panic button,” Parker said. “The only way to where we want to go is through the stuff we have to go through.”

After Monday’s home rally to top Rocky Mountain in the first contest of the second half, the Raptors have a winning percentage of .565 since the poor start and feel like things are lining up to defend their 2023 league title.

Eugene Morgan, Ogden Raptors

“They didn’t get behind me and follow me,” Parker said. “We did it as a unit and we’re going to continue to do it as a unit.”

In the 96-game season, Missoula and Glacier claimed the PBL’s playoff spots as the top two teams in the first 48 games; two more playoff bids are up for grabs in the second half.

In his first full professional season out of James Madison University, center fielder Jack Cone has piloted the Raptors’ offense from the leadoff spot.

“In the first two weeks, we basically saw the low point already in our season,” Cone said. “We just said we can play winning baseball if we do the right things every day and rally around each other instead of worrying about individual stuff.”

Parker observed that Ogden’s 22-26 first-half mark was better than the struggle the Raptors went through in last year’s second half (19-29) before going 4-1 in the playoffs to claim the championship.

Kevin Johnson, Ogden Raptors

Cone hit .427 in the first half and scored a team-high 64 runs while carrying a .489 on-base percentage, a role he embraced early in the season.

“Just putting balls in play and putting together tough at-bats, and let the guys behind me do some damage,” Cone said. “I’ll do whatever to get on base, and I don’t get out of that approach.”

Pitching was the thorn keeping Ogden from being competitive early but has rounded into form through the season. Early on, Raptors pitchers issued an average of eight walks per game, and walks and hits per inning pitched (WHIP) was often greater than 3.0.

Ogden steadied its staff through internal improvement and some roster changeover, and, in an offense-heavy league, pitchers are often recording WHIP marks of 2.3 or lower, with many sub-2.0 and four sub-1.0 games.

“We’ve had some guys who’ve been with us the whole time and I commend them, because we don’t bow out,” Parker said. “We don’t fold, we’re a resilient group.”

Prime example, Parker said, was Monday’s comeback win over the Vibes. After Eli Elliott surrendered two early home runs for a 4-0 deficit, he said he asked his staff to battle every at-bat and keep the team in the game. That turned into a 6-5 victory.

Elliott (4.45 ERA) and Rafael Vazquez have spearheaded Ogden’s starting rotation, while bringing back Brayden Bonner for the bullpen has paid dividends. Bonner has a 2.45 ERA and has nine strikeouts in 11 innings.

Chris Macca and Nico Saltaformaggio, while less consistent, regularly turn in plus starts for Ogden.

Reinforcements are coming, too. Matthew Hess, who won Game 1 in the 2023 championship series against Billings, has been shelved on the injured list. His eventual return will bring depth to the staff.

And, arriving in town Tuesday: Mitchell Stone, winner of Game 2 in the 2023 championship series. The young right-hander had a short affiliated minor-league stint with the Twins this year and should add another good arm to the rotation.

Stone sat for nearly a month last season with an injury before his regular-season finale, throwing four scoreless innings with four hits and five strikeouts. In the start that won Ogden the PBL title, he allowed two runs on four hits, striking out seven in 5 2/3 innings.

Ogden next finishes its short, three-game home series Wednesday against Rocky Mountain, then picks up three more games against the Vibes in Colorado Springs from Friday through Sunday.

After that, the Raptors play six games at Northern Colorado from July 23-28.

Ogden’s next home series is July 30 through Aug. 4 against Grand Junction.