Heinle’s bunt proves practice pays off
Coming to the plate in the Class 3A state semifinals in a 2-2 game and your coach flashes the suicide squeeze sign certainly could cause nerves in even the coolest of ballplayers.
Kaneland junior Tyler Heinle had no such nerves.
That’s because if there is one thing Heinle knows he can do, it’s get a bunt down. He realized that at an early age playing baseball, and he’s only gotten better at it the more he’s played, first in travel baseball and through his three years in the Kaneland program.
So even when Waterloo guessed right and called for a pitchout on the squeeze attempt, Heinle was able to step forward, extend his arms, and get the bat on the ball and push it down the first-base line. Jake Razo raced home from third base with the run, giving Kaneland a 3-2 lead and all the momentum on its way to an 8-2 victory and a spot in Saturday’s state championship game.
“I’m one of the best bunters on the team,” Heinle said. “I love bunting and it comes easy to me. When I saw the suicide squeeze I got excited.”
Aversa is an aggressive coach. Facing a left-handed pitcher and a catcher with a rocket arm, he had to find different ways to be aggressive Friday against Waterloo than stealing bases.
Which made the runners-at-first-and-third, one-out situation in the fourth inning perfect. Kaneland already had scored 2 runs in the inning to tie the game 2-2.
“Ty is a great bunter,” Aversa said. “He knows what he has to do, he knows what we expect. You can’t take that pitch. Our guy is coming unguarded so you have to put the ball in play. He reached out and put it down the line. Perfect placement, perfect job.”
Razo stood at third base when Heinle fell behind in the count 0-1 on a curveball. The outgoing Razo wasn’t shy about giving Aversa his opinion on what play the Knights should try next.
“I told Coach after that first strike to put it (squeeze sign) down,” Razo said. “I had so much confidence in Ty. I have all the confidence in the world getting the ball down.”
Waterloo saw the play coming. Before the second pitch of Heinle’s at-bat Bulldogs starter AJ Crutchfield threw to first base three times.
“Coach said ‘I’m still going to give it to him,’” Razo said. “That was a beautiful bunt. It just kept us rolling.”
“Jake loves being part of exciting plays so of course he was asking for the squeeze,” Aversa said. “That kid (Crutchfield) threw over 3 times, Jake did a great job not giving it away. He did a great job staying put and waiting for the ball to come out of his hands.
“I don’t think they were stealing signs. It was a good situation for it. Obviously we executed. They knew it was coming but we did our job and got the play done.”
Not only did Heinle’s bunt score the run, Crutchfield threw wild to first base on the play that helped Kaneland add another run later in the inning. Bulldogs coach Mark Vogel removed Crutchfield after the squeeze, and Kaneland got to Waterloo’s bullpen for four more runs.
“Very uncharacteristic of us,” Vogel said. “We had a pitchout and just didn’t get it out far enough. The kid did a nice job of getting the ball down. We execute that it’s a 2-2 ballgame and anything can happen.”
Heinle said he’s executed three suicide squeeze bunts this year. The first time he got a low-and-away pitch and lunged to get the bunt down. The second time he actually fouled off a squeeze attempt before getting the bunt down later in the at-bat.
“Two strikes, I got it down and boosted my confidence back,” Heinle recalled.
“When I saw the sign (against Waterloo), I knew I was going to get the job done. I love sac bunting. It (the run) put pressure on them and we kept putting it to them. We got big hits after that. It was definitely a momentum swing.”
Heinle has never had to squeeze on a pitchout before, but Aversa wasn’t surprised he executed Friday given how hard Heinle works at bunting.
“He has to throw the bat, he has to get a piece of the ball,” Aversa said. “Our motto with the squeeze is you hit the ball or it hits you. You have to get in the way somehow either with the bat or with yourself.”
jlemon@dailyherald.com