Baseball: Manny Marin’s first career homer capper to Plano’s big day at the plate against Serena

PLANO – Manny Marin’s certainty belied the unfamiliarity of his special occasion Saturday.

When Plano’s junior shortstop got the green light on a 3-0 count and two runners on in the third inning, he knew what to do with it.

“I knew he’d give me a fastball, it was right there for me and I just drilled it,” Marin said. “It felt great. I knew off the bat, that it was out.”

Marin’s first high school home run, a three-run shot, highlighted another big day with the bats for Plano. The Reapers batted around in a five-run first inning and went on to a 13-1, five-inning win over Serena Saturday morning.

Plano (6-4) won its second straight game following a four-game losing streak, and built on the momentum of its 9-6, back-and-forth win over Streator Thursday. Mason Accidentale hit two homers in that game for the Reapers, who are averaging 8.9 runs per game about one-third of the way through the season.

“I think we’re building some momentum here and getting ready to compete in the conference,” Plano coach Nate Hill said. “When we talked early on we thought pitching would be our strong suit, but we’ve been putting up some runs. Definitely like where we’re at.”

Hill likes where Marin is at.

Brought up as a freshman in 2019 to help solidify Plano’s infield defense, Marin has added some muscle, and improved his swing. Through 10 games this spring he’s hitting .471 with a 1.307 OPS, 13 runs batted in and 17 runs scored.

“We brought him up as a freshman to fill a role at second base, and back then we knew he had some potential,” Hill said. “He works at his craft, he’s put some weight on and he’s a very strong kid. I’ve been waiting for him to hit one of those home runs because he does it in batting practice every day.”

Plano quickly erased Serena’s 1-0 lead with five in the Reapers’ half of the first. After three walks sandwiched around a strikeout, Sean Earwood singled in two runs, and Vinny Maye turned on a pitch for a two-run double and 4-1 lead.

Accidentale reached on an error that scored Marin in the second and Earwood followed with a run-scoring infield single to make it 7-1.

Earwood’s two hits snapped an 0-for-6 stretch this week.

“Some of us who were struggling seeing that higher velocity we saw earlier this week, it helps us to see the pitches better just so we can get used to getting our contact back. After a day like today we’ll have our contact back and we’ll be ready for that higher velocity,” Earwood said. “I’ve been struggling the last few days, so being able to make contact makes me confident that I’ll be able to make contact as the season goes on.”

Serena (4-5), meanwhile, did not help its cause with free baserunners. The Huskers issued five walks and committed three errors, and all eight Reapers’ runners off them came around to score.

“We just made a couple mistakes in those big innings that they had and gave them extra runners,” Serena coach Chad Baker said. “A team that hits like them, you can’t do that.”

The Huskers, playing their sixth game in six days, scored their lone run on Leo Brennan’s two-out single that scored Ivan Stafford in the first.

“We’re out of pitching, kind of moving some guys around today, we just had to battle through it,” Baker said. “I thought we hit the ball better than the one run showed but that’s baseball. I’ll take our 4-2 week, get our arms rested and get back at it next week.”

Christian Sloat (2-1), the first of three Plano pitchers, earned the win, striking out four over three innings while scattering four hits and two walks while the Reapers scored in each of their four innings at the plate.

“We’ve been good all year with runners in scoring position,” said Marin, who walked and scored his first two plate appearances. “Really everyone was hitting good today.”