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An extra-base hit for Herndon
Entering last Friday night's baseball game at Herndon High School between the Hornets and the visiting Fairfax Rebels, neither team had been able to muster much of a power-hitting display.
Herndon, with only 19 extra-base hits out of the 85 it had recorded in 11 previous games, was collecting multiple bases at a 22-percent clip. Fairfax, meanwhile, held an 11-for-83 mark in 13 previous contests -- a 13-percent clip.
In an 18-run odyssey that lasted 2 hours and 44 minutes, Herndon's seven extra-base hits -- out of nine total hits -- proved to be pivotal, as the Hornets earned their first Concorde District win of the season with a 12-6 dismantling of Fairfax.
“We just hit the ball good,” said Herndon senior Allan Brownell, whose 3-for-4 performance featured two doubles, a triple, four RBIs and two runs scored. “We had three good practices during the week, and that helped us out a lot. We were mashing the ball in practice, and it just carried into [the game].”
Herndon improved to 5-7 overall, 1-6 in the Concorde District, while Fairfax dropped to 3-11 overall, 1-6 in the Concorde. Herndon will play at Chantilly on Tuesday and Fairfax will rest until next Friday when it hosts the Chargers.
An offensive explosion for the Hornets didn't seem plausible at the outset. Herndon fell behind early as Fairfax plated its first three baserunners. Herndon's starting pitcher, senior right-hander Nick Impellizzeri (4 IP, 5 runs, 3 earned runs, 5 hits, 3 walks and 8 strikeouts), needed 37 pitches to escape the first, which featured two hits and two errors by Impellizzeri's defense.
But instead of crumbling, Herndon rallied for a run behind Brownell's double to center. Fairfax added one more run in the top of the third, but in the bottom half, Herndon broke out of its shell and responded.
Impellizzeri (1-for-3, 2 runs scored) led off with a single, and center fielder Chris Medina followed with a triple that nearly landed in Reston -- although it still didn't escape Herndon's 386-foot power alley in right center field.
“It was actually a relieving win,” said Medina, who finished 2-for-3 with his RBI-triple, a double and two runs scored. “We have a great hitting coach in Greg Miller. He's a guy that will help you get your confidence up. He knows our players personally, and he's a big reason why our bats are alive.”
According to Medina, Miller has stressed a patient approach for his Hornet hitters at the plate -- taking an outside pitch the other way or hitting the baseball hard back up the middle. Miller had to be downright giddy watching his team during the bottom of the fifth inning.
After Fairfax reliever Joseph Vanderplas walked the bases loaded, Brownell, shortstop Ian McNichol (2-for-4, 3 RBIs and a run scored) and second baseman Cody Smestad provided back-to-back-to-back doubles to break the game open. By the time Herndon's fifth-inning assault had concluded, the Hornets had turned a one-run deficit into a five-run advantage to lead, 10-5.
Only one tenuous situation remained as Herndon reliever Davis Hall was summoned to face the Rebels' top bat -- senior right-hander Carlos Perez -- with two on and two out in the sixth. Hall started Perez with a pair of devastating sliders to gain an 0-2 advantage, wasted a fastball to go to 1-2 and got Perez swinging on a slider low and away for the strikeout.
“Strike this kid out,” said Hall, when asked what he was thinking during his run to the mound from the bullpen. “Throw him some off-speed stuff. I threw him a slider three times.”
Coach Al McCullock's team added a pair of insurance runs in the sixth inning, and Hall maneuvered himself out of a bases-loaded jam in the seventh to seal the victory.
“It's about time we won one,” said McCullock. “We've just been struggling, so it's a good win for us. I've kept talking to the kids and telling them to stay positive, and sooner or later something is going to turn around for us.
“A big crowd on a Friday night -- a nice warm night. What more can you ask for?”
How 'bout an extra-base hit?
Got it.
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