Brayden Harrell smokes a two-run home run in the fourth inning for the Eagles.
By Rich Bevensee
Bryan Henry and his coaching staff with the Loudoun South Eagles 11U ballclub have been preaching to the same group of young ballplayers about the right way to play the game since they were seven years old.
One of the skills which gets hammered into those little baseball brains is hitting to the opposite field, which makes Riley Hiebert one of their best students.
After the Eagles battled through a one-run game for much of the six-inning contest, Hiebert provided an insurance run which proved to be essential to the Eagles winning in their debut at Diamond Nation in Flemington.
Hiebert’s opposite-field RBI single to right in the top of the sixth inning gave the Eagles a two-run lead, and it proved to be the winning hit in a 6-5 Eagles victory over the Providence Prospects in pool play in Week 2 of the Summer Finale on Saturday morning at ‘The Nation.’
“The adrenaline was telling me to just take the ball where it’s pitched,” Hiebert said. “You can’t really do anything more but take it to the opposite field. I learned it pretty young. Just take the ball where it’s pitched, no matter where it’s pitched.”
Later Saturday the Eagles, who hail from Loudoun County, Va., tied CougsElite of Plymouth Meeting, Pa., 7-7. The third-seeded Eagles and second-seeded Cougs will meet again in the 11U semifinals at 11 a.m. on Sunday.
The top-seeded North Jersey Goons of Mount Olive and the fourth-seeded Steelsharks of Bethlehem, Pa., are in the other semi. The final is slated for 3:15 p.m.
The Prospects of Rhode Island, also making their Diamond Nation debut, defeated Baseball U PA of Stroudsburg, Pa., 12-8, in the second game of their Saturday doubleheader.
Hiebert’s hit, which drove in Mason Greer from third, could not have been better timed. Just moments earlier Luke Salgado made the second out of the inning when he was thrown out trying to steal home.
“That was great situational hitting,” Henry said. “We’ve been together as a team since 7U and our approach is when we’re hitting in the cage everything is up the middle or opposite field. The kids don’t like it because it’s hard, and now that they’re 12 they’re seeing the investment that they put in over the years to play baseball the way it’s supposed to be played. So they know what to do when it’s a two-strike count against a guy that’s throwing hard. He’s able to hit the ball to the right side.”
The value of Hiebert’s RBI single was revealed in the bottom of the sixth when Yasiel Penalo drove in the Prospects’ final run with a sacrifice fly, narrowing the gap to one run for the third time in the game.
The Eagles and Prospects were evenly matched – no lead was more than two runs – and traded blows even after Brayden Harrell launched his first home run of the season, a two-run shot, in the top of the fourth to put the Eagles in front for good at 4-2.
“It was low and inside which is pretty much my sweet spot,” Harrell said. “It felt really good. I knew it was gone because it was crushed. I’ve hit some in practice but never in a game before. It felt amazing. As I was rounding the bases I was thinking, ‘Oh my God I actually hit one.’”
The Prospects answered every time the Eagles tried to stretch the lead.
Levys Matos led off the bottom of the fourth with a titanic solo homer to make it a one-run game again at 4-3.
Leonard Andujar was dealing for four innings for the Providence Prospects.
The Eagles made it 5-3 in the fifth on Wynston Herr’s RBI groundout, but Efrain Herrera pushed the Prospects back to within a run with an RBI single in the bottom of the frame.
Henry said he was proud to see his young players answer the bell when pushed to play a close game down to the final inning.
“I love close games because it’s like down to the wire, and it’s always exciting seeing who comes out on top,” Harrell said.
“Honestly I just like winning no matter what,” Hiebert said. “Blowouts or close games, it’s still a win.”
Harrell led the Eagles offense, going 2-for-3 with a homer and a double and two RBI. Hiebert went 2-for-2 with a walk and an RBI. Luke Salgado had a double.
For the Prospects, Matos was 2-for-3 with a homer, Matthew Rodriguez singled twice, Willbert Torres and Abel DeLaRosa each had a double.
The Prospects couldn’t be learning from a better teacher. Head coach Alex Fernandez spent 14 years playing Minor League baseball for five organizations. The Dominican Republic native played his high school ball at Hope High School in Providence, R.I. and was selected by the Colorado Rockies in the 36th round of the 1996 Major League Amateur Draft. He opted to return to the Dominican Republic, was drafted again by Seattle in 1998, and later played in the Cincinnati Reds, Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago White Sox and San Diego Padres organizations.
Fernandez said it didn’t take much to convince him that it was time to bring another team to Diamond Nation after his 13U club visited nine years ago.
“I was here in 2017 and I wanted to bring another team because of the way they run everything here,” Fernandez said. “The way they are organized, it’s good talent, good competition, so I say why not. This facility is easily in the top five from what I’ve seen. I’ve been around and this is good baseball here.”