All smiles: Henry homers twice, Hornets score early and often in win over Eagles

LIBERTY, Ill. — Maverick Henry couldn’t stop smiling as he rounded the bases following his three-run home run in the second inning of the Brown County baseball team’s 15-0 five-inning victory over Liberty on Friday.

As Henry approached third base, Hornets coach Jared Hoots — with a smile on his face as well — told Henry to “have a day.” Henry also homered in the first inning to give the Hornets a 2-0 lead and had a single in the fourth inning.

“When you perform like that, you’ve got to enjoy it,” Henry said. 

Hoots knew the moment the first home run sailed over the left-center field fence Henry was in for a special day.

“That was the best game that he’s had swinging the bat,” Hoots said. “Most games you pretty much know after his first at-bat what you’re going to get, and after he hit that first home run, I knew it was going to be a good day for him.”

Hoots’ chatter with Henry continued in Henry’s subsequent at-bats. Hoots playfully shouted, “hit a ball hard one time,” meant to calm any nerves Henry may have had even after hitting two home runs.

“Baseball is one of the hardest games to play,” Hoots said. “When you’re putting so much pressure on yourself, you just want to say something to relax him a little bit. I think that’s how baseball is meant to be played. It’s not like football where you can line up and smoke somebody or in basketball you can lock somebody down. You’ve got to be relaxed at the plate, and we try to accomplish that in a competitive, focused way.”

Henry’s second home run capped an eight-run inning and extended the Hornets to 13-0 lead. Hoots said the Hornets showed a relaxed demeanor the moment they arrived at the ballpark.

“It was a free-and-easy and fun baseball game for us,” Hoots said. “You’ve got to stay loose, and that’s what we did.”

The first five batters reached base in the second inning. Myer Maxwell and Jack Sefton each had RBI hits. Wyatt Kassing and Matt Boylen drove in runs with a ground out and sacrifice fly.

“Those were the best one through nine swings we’ve had this year,” Hoots said.

This lineup provided sophomore starting pitcher Eli Staton with plenty of breathing room, and he held the Eagles to just two hits, struck out four and walked one in five innings. Staton said pitching with such a big lead helped him feed off his teammates’ positive energy.

“It definitely relaxes me and lets me smile. I don’t usually smile a lot,” he said. “I get to rely on my teammates because they’re having fun and not all stressed out.”

Liberty coach Travis Ruppel said his team did not match Brown County’s energy, especially after the big punches the Hornets threw in the first two innings.

“We just came out flat,” Ruppel said. “We got hit in the mouth, and we didn’t seem like we were ready to punch back.”

The Hornets (12-11) will face Carrollton in the Western Illinois Valley Conference Tournament at the Future Champions Sports Complex in Jacksonville on Monday. The Eagles (7-15) will play four games in four days beginning Monday at home against Southeastern.