Around the Horn in Cooperstown
They’re Hall of Fame type numbers from a hard-hitting third baseman from Ohio.
But we’re not talking about Dayton native Mike Schmidt who manned the hot corner for the Philadelphia Phillies from 1972-89 and found himself enshrined in baseball’s Hall of Fame back in 1995.
Heck, he only finished with a lifetime batting average of .267, legging out only about 27 doubles over a full 162-game schedule, finishing with a career-best .644 slugging percentage in 1981, and averaging just 107 RBI during each of his 162-game seasons.
We’re talking about 12-year-old Holmes County Knighthawks third baseman Erik Hanna, who when asked if he’s the power-hitter on this year’s 13-3 elite-level traveling team says simply and humbly, “Yeah, that’s what they say.”
Hanna will forever join Schmidt in Cooperstown when he and the rest of the Knighthawks are enshrined in the prestigious American Youth Baseball Hall of Fame during the week of Saturday, June 4 to Friday, June 10 after being selected as one of the top 104 12-and-under teams in the entire country to compete in this year’s Cooperstown Dreams Park and American Youth Baseball Hall of Fame Invitational Tournament.
“It’s awesome,” said Knighthawks head coach Jamie Horn, who assembled the first pieces of this group of young All-Stars when he formed an eight-and-under coach pitch team made up of players mostly from the western half of Holmes County back in 2005, continuing to serve as head coach as they moved up in divisions and expanded to include players from West Holmes, East Holmes and Southeast local school districts. “You hear older guys talk about Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth and the big names that made baseball what it is, and these kids are at the age now where they’re starting to know Babe Ruth and Willie Mays and some of the bigger players.”
But they’re still at that wonderful age where baseball is just a game, even though they’re coming off an 11-and-under season in which they won the State championship, the Great Lakes Regional championship, and the East Coast National championship.
“We went on a run last June and there were a lot of times when they didn’t really know the score or know the inning,” explained Horn. “They were just playing baseball.
“When we won the Regional championship we were like, ‘OK, line up, game’s over,’ and they had no idea. They’re so consumed in the game, and that’s a good thing.”
A good thing since baseball players are often referred to as The Boys of Summer (not The Men of Summer), like Horn’s 12-year-old son, Turner Horn, who – just like most of the Knighthawks players – excels at multiple positions and said, “I just like the game. I think it’s a good game and it’s really fun to be traveling places, meeting new people, going to different states. It’s a good experience
“The first year was kind of hard and nerve-racking, but this year since we’ve been doing it since we were five and six, it really hasn’t been that hard, it’s gotten better.”
And so have certain aspects of the younger Horn’s game, including his throwing accuracy from the outfield, which has landed him in the Golden Arm skills competition in Cooperstown during which competitors will attempt to hit a target at home plate from 125-feet away, somewhere between second base and center field, looking to break the all-time record of 11 targets hit by Joe Dal Santo of llinois back in 1999.
“I haven’t been the strongest person on the team, but this year I’m kind of excelling in throwing and I’m able to throw with more accuracy than a few years ago,” said Turner Horn, who will also be watching his power-hitting teammate, Hanna, take 10 cuts in the King of Swat competition against other elite power hitters from around the country, and seeing Knighthawks centerfielder Trenton Bridenthal rip his way around the bases in the Road Runner event.
“I like using my speed to run down balls in the outfield and getting big hits and stretching doubles into triples and singles into doubles,” said Bridenthal. “Coach is always telling us how to run the bases, left foot on the inside corner and just pushing off of it. This is exciting. I know there’s going to be other good people there but I hope I’m the best I can be and I can compete with them.”
The speed Bridenthal and others bring to the Knighthawks is just what the elder Horn will rely on to out-compete the rest of the field in Cooperstown as he preached to his team about taking extra bases, stealing bags, and even stealing runs on suicide squeeze plays during a team practice two days before departing for the Mecca of baseball.
But Horn will also settle for some big blasts off the bats of his Knighthawks players too, as they come in hitting .419 as a team, with a .540 slugging percentage, led by Hanna, who like all good power hitters doesn’t really swing for the fences.
“I’m pretty much a contact hitter that just swings the bat and hopes for whatever comes,” said the little slugger with short blonde hair. “It’s a thought you have, but you try not to and it will come some day, you’ll hit it over the fence. It just comes whenever it wants to come.”
And he kind of hopes it wants to come during the King of Swat competition when he and the rest of the field go after the all-time record of eight home runs in 10 swings, set by three different players, most recently in 2009.
“It feels pretty good. I’m kind of nervous but it’ll be fun to meet other big power hitters of the nation, coming together in this big New York town, and we’ll see how it turns out.”
But as it turns out, hitting may not be the real strength of this team at all.
A 3-0 record, 18 strikeouts in 22 innings pitched, with a miniscule 0.27 ERA.
Those aren’t the numbers of Gilmore, Ohio native Cy Young, who died in Newcomerstown back in 1955.
They’re Hall of Fame type numbers that belong to Markus Schlabach who was one walk away from tossing a perfect game during the Northeast Ohio Knockout tournament in Kent back on May 22, and who leads a Knighthawks pitching staff that sports a combined record of 10-3, with 78 strikeouts and a 1.75 ERA.
For a coach who said, “We really stress defense,” it’s really the perfect combination that has led to a lot of success over the past seven years and will finally be on display in the mythical birthplace of the game.
“Sitting in the dugout you can overanalyze so much,” said Horn. “But with this bunch it’s just, ‘Don’t mess it up.’”
In other words, move over Mike Schmidt and Cy Young, here come Erik Hanna, Markus Schlabach and the rest of the boys of summer from Holmes County.
The Knighthawks begin pool play on Sunday, June 5, at 11 a.m., against the South Florida Orphans, wrapping up pool play on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. against the Bakersfield Web Gems out of California, in a game that can be seen live on the Internet by logging on to http://www.Cooperstown DreamsPark.com.
The Knighthawks can also be seen live online Monday, June 6, at 1:45 p.m., against Benders (FL) and at 7 p.m. against the Mountain Brook Green Sox of Alabama.
Pool play will determine the seeding for the elimination round, which begins Wednesday, June 8.
Published: June 2, 2011
