A.J. Serrano is making the most of his senior baseball season at Siloam Springs.
Heading into Tuesday's doubleheader at Russellville, Serrano was the among the team leaders in several offensive categories, including hits, RBIs and batting average, all the while being a steady presence for the Panthers at first base.
Siloam Springs head coach Alan Hardcastle said Serrano worked hard in the offseason to get himself ready to have a solid senior year for the Panthers.
"He came back in great shape," Hardcastle said. "He's always the first one there. It doesn't matter if it's voluntary workouts or mandatory workouts, A.J.'s going to be there from start to finish. He's such a great teammate. He's deserved everything he's gotten this year. He's worked hard for it. He's competed against the best in the conference and he's produced."
Going into Tuesday's doubleheader at Russellville, Serrano was tied with junior Reed Willbanks for the team lead with 26 hits. He was second on the team with 15 RBIs, 17 runs and seven doubles and the team leader in batting average at .388 (26 for 67). He's also hit one of the four home runs on the team.
"I think this offseason I really took it seriously," Serrano said. "Not that I didn't take it serious the other years, (I wanted my) senior year just go out with a bang -- work harder."
In the game of sabermetrics, Serrano also does well. Serrano's on-base-percentage is a team-high .481 and his slugging percentage of .537 is second to only Taylor Pool's .556. His OPS (on-base plus slugging) leads the team at 1.018.
"When you need him, he's a run producer," Hardcastle said. "He'll knock in guys. But he's also be that crafty leadoff guy. He'll take pitches."
Serrano, a left-handed batter, said he's not doing anything fancy at the plate either.
"My approach lately is get up there, find my pitch and hit the ball hard," he said. "Not necessarily putting it in any situation or putting it anywhere out in the field, just hitting the ball hard."
That Serrano is among the team's leaders in driving in runs shouldn't be a big surprise. Hardcastle said in the preseason that Serrano would hit in the middle of the lineup for the Panthers, who were 8-15 overall and 5-5 going into Tuesday.
But Serrano has also been good on the bases and for a while he led the team in runs scored.
"I like to understand that coach has the trust in me to get the timing from the pitcher to go ahead and take some bases," he said. "I know I'm not stealing as much as I can or as much as (Hardcastle) would like me to. We have some good people behind me who get me in and that really helps a lot."
Hardcastle smiled at the stolen base comment and added an example of what makes Serrano a joy to coach.
"The other day against Greenwood, they put the massive shift on him (on the right side of the infield)," Hardcastle said, "and he tried to lay a bunt down the third base line. That just goes to show you how unselfish he is as a teammate and a player."
Serrano is one of four senior Panthers who is scheduled to be honored next Tuesday when the Panthers host Vilonia for their final 5A-West Conference home games of the season. Seniors Landon "L.T." Ellis, Baron Meek and Spenser Pippin will also be honored.
Pending the result of Tuesday's doubleheader against Russellville, it's likely the Panthers need to sweep the Eagles to have a shot at making the Class 5A playoffs.
"It's going to be a tough road," Hardcastle said. "I know these guys can do it and I still think the best is yet to come and we're going to see it in these next few games."
Sports on 04/23/2019