By Kevin Lantz

If you happen to be an opponent of the Barnsdall Panthers you can be guaranteed that whatever happens, Christian Hernandez will be right in the middle of all the action. On the diamond, where Hernandez patrols the middle of the field behind the plate, on the mound, or, as a centerfielder, chances are that he will be involved in most plays that are made in the central part of the field.

Hernandez utilizes his speed on the bases and on the mound.  In only 22⅔ innings pitched this season, he has 35 strikeouts. This equates to almost 14 strikeouts per nine innings pitched.  While pitching, Hernandez relies mainly on his fastball while mixing in a curve and a change-up. While he is on the bases, the speedy Hernandez has 20 stolen bases this year. His .291 batting average along with his 20 walks gives him an on-base percentage of .491. This also creates opportunities for Barnsdall to score runs. Hernandez is responsible for 25 of those runs so far this year.

He credits his parents for his early start in sports.

“I started playing as soon as I could and would always watch games on TV with my dad and my mom always told me to keep a positive mindset,” Hernandez said about his introduction to sports.

Hernandez made sure to mention his coaches and what they mean to his career.

“The coaches at my school are great and all of them love the kids and seeing them succeed. This has made sports more enjoyable and fun this year.”

A personal highlight in his life was when Francisco Lindor aka “Mr. Smile” of the New York Mets smiled at Hernandez when he gave the youthful player his signed glove after a game that Hernandez attended.

This young man’s future plans are to go to college and play baseball while getting a degree in business so that he can pursue real estate.