Pine Bluff’s Hence shines in blowout win

FAYETTEVILLE—Braelin Hence showed what kind of player he can be when healthy.

In his first full summer of baseball since the age of 12 because of an assortment of injuries and surgeries, Hence reached base in all four of his at-bats and knocked in four runs as Hunter’s Elite from Pine Bluff crushed Northwest Arkansas 16-1 in the first round of the Senior Babe Ruth Southwest Regional Tournament on Friday.

“He’s had five surgeries in five years,” said Elite coach Marvin Hence, Braelin’s father. “He’s got screws on one side (of his leg) and plaster on the other. He just gives it 100 percent. He tore it up (in the Pine Bluff youth leagues) when he was 12 but has been having surgeries ever since. “He’s a gutsy player, man. “And his play Friday helped spark a big second-inning rally for the Pine Bluff squad. With two outs in the frame, two consecutive walks and an infield single set up Hence, who delivered a bases-clearing triple, as Hunter’s Elite sent 13 players to the plate, while scoring eight runs in the inning.

Jaylen Deshazier, who hit two doubles and had four

RBIs, followed Hence’s hit with a run-scoring double, and Jakobi Jackson added a two-run shot to right field.

“We had two errors (in the second inning),” Northwest Arkansas coach David Rook said. “That moved a lot of runners, and they were good on the bags. Then they hit the ball well. Our pitcher just couldn’t get around them anymore. He was throwing a fastball, and they just started hitting it.”

Northwest Arkansas struggled to mount an offensive attack. The local team managed only three hits, and its only run came off a bases-loaded balk in the fifth inning.

“I think a lot of it was nerves,” Rook said of his team’s offensive struggles. “I think we heard the hype about the Pine Bluff team. They’ve got some great pitchers, and we just need to settle down.”

Both teams return to play today. Pine Bluff plays Mobile, Ala., which beat Camden, 25-2, at 1 p.m. today. Northwest Arkansas plays Camden at 4 p.m. The tournament will run through Monday at the White River Baseball Complex.