Prep Baseball Report

VA/DC Scout Blog: Langley at Herndon 6/15


John Nolan
Virginia Scouting Director & Managing Editor

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Monday night, Langley traveled to No. 20 Herndon for a Region 6D Quarterfinal matchup between Liberty District Rivals. Both teams went with juniors righthanders to start the game, Langley going with Bobby Fleming and Herndon going with Jackson Coen

Coen worked around a 1-out single of the bat of Fleming, who came into the game with a very hot bat, to put up a scoreless top of the first. In the bottom half of the inning, Fleming walked the first two batters of the game, and after lineout to right, Liam Willson was able to score on a wild pitch that didn't scoot too far away from the catcher, he just got a really good break. After one, Herndon had a 1-0 lead.

In the second, it was Coen he lost the zone for a second as the Lancers used an error and two walks to load the bases with two outs, but Coen got a lineout to escape with no damage. Hill Naski doubled with two outs in the bottom of the second, but he was left on base as Fleming kept the score 1-0 through two complete.

The top of the third saw Langley commit a few baserunning blunders and give away two outs. Fleming walked to lead the inning off and quickly stole second, but Herndon ran a well executed pickoff play and got him off of second. After a runner reached on an error, Michael Cuomo also reached on a throwing error, but he was thrown out trying to reach second to end the inning. Herndon got a pair of one-out singles in the bottom of the third, but again Fleming was able to work out of the jam and the score remained 1-0.

The fourth went fast, Coen found the feel for his breaking ball and started being aggressive with it. Fleming also found the feel for his change-up, which he began using heavily and he got a lot of soft contact in the fourth inning.

In the top of the fifth, a leadoff single by Luke Buroker put a runner on for the Saxons and he was able to steal second and advance to third on a wild pitch. He scored the tying run when Fleming lined out to deep left for sacrifice. Coen ended the threat there, allowing only the tying run.

In the bottom half of the fifth, Willson reached with one out when he let a curveball hit his foot with two strikes. He was still on first base a batter later when Kyle Henson hammered a double to deep right, and Willson was able to motor around and score the go-ahead run without a throw. Herndon had the lead back at 2-1 heading into the sixth inning.

The lead didn't last for long. Cuomo led the inning of with a single and then stole second immediately. After that, Aidan Hohenthaner dropped a perfect sacrifice bunt up the third base line which went for a hit and put runners on the corners. Langley then ran the early-break play, with Hohenthaner getting into a rundown. Cuomo broke for home and the throw was in time but low and Herndon's catcher couldn't make the scoop as Cuomo slid in safely with the tying run. With the go-ahead run on second and no outs, Coen got a pair of strikeouts and a flyout to end the top of the sixth with no more damage.

Langley went to the bullpen before the bottom of the sixth, bringing in senior righty Will Long (Cornell). Long worked around a 2-out single to post a scoreless inning and send the game to the seventh tied.

Long then led off the seventh with a sharp single to left, putting the go-ahead run on base for Fleming, but the game was halted for lightning in the area and would not be resumed until Tuesday.

When the game resumed, Connor Godshalk took the mound for the Hornets and he was able to induce a line out and two fly outs to get out of the top of the seventh with the score still tied. 

In the bottom of the seventh, Long took the mound again for Langley. Mitch Maurer led the inning off with a single for the Hornets. An error put runners on the corners with no outs, and then Willson stole second base. A walk loaded the bases, and then Herndon won the game on a Kyle Henson walk-off sacrifice fly. The Hornets will go the Region 6D semifinals and take on No. 1 Madison.

For Herndon, Coen went 6 IP, 2 R, 5 H, 6 K. Graham Sears was 1-2 with 2 BB. Henson was 2-3 with 2B and 2 RBI. For the Saxons, Fleming went 5 IP, 2 R, 4 H, 4 K, while also going 1-2 with an RBI and a BB at the plate

 

Langley

 

 

 

Bobby Fleming OF / RHP / Langley , VA / 2022

Fleming is 6-1 with a lankier frame that has plenty of room to add strength. At the plate, he hits from the right side from an open athletic stance, short bat quick to contact, strong at contact with extension through the ball. Has a pull approach and shows some home run power that way, was on the barrel in both at-bats that we were there for. 

On the mound, he throws from a low three-quarters arm slot, short loose very quick arm action with easier effort to his delivery. Shoulders are uphill and closed, hides the ball some, lands on line with a fall off finish. Fastball was 84-89, touching 90 twice. Pitch gets some late armside run, it plays up with thrown in on righties. Showed control and strike-throwing ability, but not command in the zone yet. This was his third appearance in five days after rain shortened his Thursday start to one inning and then he threw 2 innings on 28 pitches Saturday in that games' continuation. Curveball was 63-70 with some armspeed, had some shape with 11/5 break, was more gradual, seemed to not have a ton of confidence in it. The few he threw in the 68-70 range were sharp. Change-up was 72-74 with good armspeed and heavy late fade. Showed a ton of confidence in the pitch and used it frequently as the game went on, to righties and lefties. Fastball velocity was mostly 88-89 when he was in the windup, does a half leg lift in the stretch and gave up some ticks, 86-87 early and 84-86 later in the game when in the stretch. Held his velocity throughout the game, hit his second 90 in the fifth inning. A lot to like here and a legitimate two-way prospect at the next level.

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Will Long RHP / SS / Langley , VA / 2021

 

 

 

 

 

 

Herndon

 

 

 

Jackson Coen RHP / SS / Herndon , VA / 2022

Coen is 6-2 with a lankier athletic frame that has a lot of room to add strength to it. He throws from a low three-quarters arm slot, short free quick arm action and some effort to his delivery. Lands open with a hard fall off finish. Fastball was 84-86 with some late armside run to it. Showed control and ability to throw strikes consistently with the pitch. Held his velocity in the stretch and throughout the game. Curveball was 70-76 with good armspeed and sharp power 10/4 break to it. Found his feel for the pitch in the third inning and started throwing it harder then, mostly 75-76 from then on, pitch has shape and flashes swing and miss. A lot of projection left for Coen and he has some competitiveness in him.

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Liam Willson SS / 3B / Herndon, VA / 2023

Willson is 6-1 with an athletic frame that has some strength present and room to add more. He is a switch hitter but only hit from the left side in the game. Walked and was hit by a pitch in two of his at-bats, the one in the video was a deep drive that was caught up against the fence and was about 2 feet away from being a home run. Very comfortable with the strike zone and likes to work deep counts and have long at-bats. Has a quick bat with power present and more to come. Speed on is a tool, long strider who glides, also gets good jumps on the bases and has a knack for advancing. Defensively at third, fields with a good wide base and softer hands. Works through the ball to a quick clean exchange, short loose arm action, showed average strength on the day but wasn't tested to make a hard throw. Has good quickness and the speed and athleticism to play short.

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