Diego Hernandez, Canyon baseball, Sr.
On the field: In last week’s Class 4A bidistrict playoff sweep of Levelland, Canyon was productive at the plate, and nobody came up bigger in two games than Hernandez. The Eagles rolled to 10-3 and 9-4 victories, and Hernandez was a big factor at the plate in both wins. Batting in the sixth spot in the lineup both games, Hernandez made the most of the opportunity to produce runs. In the first game, Hernandez went 2-for-4 and drove in two runs and he was even more productive in the second game, going 3-for-4 with a double and driving in four runs to complete the sweep. The shortstop led the Eagles in the series by driving in six runs, twice as many as anybody else had in the series for the Eagles. Hernandez, who had been hitting eighth in the lineup for much of the season, will try to keep his hot streak going in this week’s area round series with Midland Greenwood.
Coach John Doan: “We’ve talked a lot about our two-strike approach, and I remember one at-bat in particular of Diego’s he fouled off eight pitches after two strikes which was extremely important. The cool part about it there were two runners on and he hit a sharp single to right-center to get both of those guys in. Diego came up in big moments and he grinded out at-bats. I just think that six spot lends itself to a guy who can do a lot of different things. He can hit and run, hit for power and he can bunt in any kind of situation. He did not start like he wanted to. He was 0-for for a long time and that’s a place no ball player wants to be. He just had to work through it and stay patient. We stayed patient with him. He’s our shortstop.”
Hernandez: “The goal was to just come out there and play our type of baseball. It wasn’t just me. I just stayed relaxed at the plate and that was the biggest key. You never know when the season’s going to end so you just want to go out there and play the best ball you possibly can. No matter where you are you’ve just got to hit the ball and coach Doan knew going into the series who had been hitting and who had not. I think the six hole is the best place for me to drive in runs. Wherever (Doan) puts me I’m going to try to do the best that I can.
Everybody’s going to hit the ball, I’m confident. At the beginning of the year I was in a big slump, and midway through I just kind of found myself and not put as much pressure on myself.”
About Hernandez
Favorite band or musician: Poohshiesty
Favorite social media platform: Snapchat
Favorite athlete: David Ortiz
Bet you didn’t know: Watches a lot of Pokemon
Parents: Jimmy and Dolores Hernandez
