PICK A WINNER
Senior pitcher Hernandez picks off three base runners as Washington Township reaches state for 2nd time in 3 years
Washington Township pitcher Steven Hernandez knows he has a competitive advantage against a team he plays for the first time.
Hernandez, a senior lefthander, owns a terrific pickoff move.
It’s hard to figure out on the fly. Hernandez picked off back-toback base runners in the second inning Saturday during a 3-0 victory over Cowan in the Class A LaPorte Semistate. That shut down a potential rally by the Blackhawks.
The win sent the Senators (26-7) to the state championship game for the second time in program history. They also advanced in 2019.
Washington Township scored three runs in the top of the seventh to finish off Cowan (15-14).
It was old-school baseball. Both pitchers threw strikes and the Senators broke the scoring drought with three straight bunts in the seventh.
Hernadez t hrew just 78 pitches in a game that took only 98 minutes. He gave up five hits, struck out two and didn’t walk a batter.
He was sure the Senators would return to state, going public with it after Washington Township lost to University in the 2019 Class A championship game.
The Senators will play Shakamak (17-7) in the state final on either Monday, June 21 or Tuesday, June 22 at Victory Field in Indianapolis.
“I was looking for it in the paper and I couldn’t find it,” he said. “I know it was there. I said, ‘Mark my words. We’ll be back.’ If would’ve had last year, we’d be scary.”
Besides the seventh, the Blackhawks’ only threat came when they opened with consecutive singles in the second inning.
Hernandez was ready for base runners.
First, he picked off the runner at first base. Then, without throwing a pitch, he picked off the runner at second. He has never picked off back-to-back runners.
Hernandez said he figured he could get a pickoff or two. It also was the first time he picked off three in a game. He caught another Cowan runner in the fourth.
Cowan is from Muncie.
“We know that teams from pretty far away don’t know much (about his move),” he said.
Washington Township coach Randy Roberts said his pitchers work hard on those pickoff moves.
Hernandez has the best one. His brother, James, said Steven maintains his balance on the move to first base and has a poker face.
“We don’t throw over there to keep people close,” Roberts said. “There are things we look for.”
Roberts said he was certain Hernandez was going to pick off Cowan’s base runners in that fateful second inning.
“It was just a matter of who we were going to pick off first,” Roberts said.
Washington Township scored three runs on three hits in the seventh. One of the hits was a bunt single by No. 9 batter Layne Matson. A fielder’s choice by James Hernandez gave Washington Township the winning run.
Hernandez knew when he got to the plate he was squaring up to bunt.
The team does 30 minutes of bunting in each practice, and the pitchers all spend a chunk of time on their pickoff moves. Roberts said the well-executed bunch is just a matter of “desire.”
James Hernandez said it’s a staple of Washington Township baseball.
“If we don’t get it done in practice, we have to run,” he said. “You don’t want to run.”