HEADY PLAY: Princeton Post 218 American Legion baseball player Anders Hedin makes contact with the ball in recent action. Last Thursday, Princeton High senior Hedin went 3 for 5 with two runs and one RBI and pitched four innings in relief with six strikeouts as Post 218 played to a 5-5 tie with Lawrence Post 414 in a game that was suspended after nine innings and will be resumed later in the season. Princeton, who fell 16-1 to Hamilton Post 31 last Monday to move to 0-5, hosts Trenton Post 93/182 on June 20, Bordentown Post 26 on June 22, and North Hamilton on June 23. (Photo by Frank Jacobs III)
By Bill Alden
Anders Hedin was a busy guy for the Princeton Post 218 American Legion baseball team as it hosted Lawrence Post 414 last Thursday.
Hitting third in the batting order for Post 218, Princeton High senior Hedin pounded out three hits in his first three at-bats.
“Last game, I had gotten in trouble because I was overthinking, looking for curve ball, curve ball,” said Hedin. “Literally today, I saw four pitches for my first three at-bats. I went up there and I was going to be aggressive as possible. I had seen him before. I just thought to be super aggressive and trust myself.”
In the third inning, Hedin belted a double to right center field and later scored as Princeton tallied two runs in the frame to go up 4-2.
“That was a nice shot,” said Hedin, who ended up going 3 for 5 on the day with two runs and one RBI. “That was the same thing. I just caught it high and outside. It was see the ball, hit the ball.”
Taking the mound in the sixth inning to relieve starter Colin Morton, Hedin went four innings with six strikeouts as Post 218 played to a 5-5 tie with Post 414 in a game that was suspended after nine innings and will be resumed later in the season.
“I have learned to trust my fastball more,” said Hedin, “When I really try and find a spot, sometimes I think, ‘Oh no, if I throw a fastball, it is going to be too straight. You just have to be instinctual and trust it.”
Having starred as a relief pitcher this spring for PHS, Hedin has learned to get ready in a hurry.
“A lot of time, I would come in and it would be warm up, you are going in in five minutes,” said Hedin. “It doesn’t make that much of a difference for me, thank god. I know some people need to warm up forever. I try not to complicate things too much. I just go out and have a catch and throw the ball as hard as I can.”
With Post 218 welcoming some new faces this summer, the team is starting to jell.
“It is half people from WW/P-North and half from Princeton,” said Hedin. “Now we know everybody and everybody is getting up and cheering. Before it was let’s go and then who is that guy. Now we are a team and we are playing and having a lot of people showing up. We are confident, we are having fun and just playing ball.”
Post 218 first-year manager Judd Petrone had fun watching his club battle against Lawrence.
“I was really happy with the way we performed at the plate every time we went down or it was tied, we came back,” said Petrone, a former PHS standout athlete who played football, basketball, and baseball for the Tigers. “We had two big innings where we scores two runs. We had really good at-bats. We put the ball in play and good things happen when you put the ball in play.”
Petrone credited Hedin with doing good things at the bat and on the mound against Post 414.
“Anders was 3 for 5 today and was 3 for 3 to start the game,” said Petrone. “I threw him in there to pitch and he did great. He was commanding the plate very well. Last game he was struggling to throw strikes and today he really threw the ball well.”
Starting pitcher Morton also did well, going five innings and giving up six hits and three earned runs.
“Morton threw the ball great too,” added Petrone. “There were a couple mistakes in the field that we didn’t back him up on but he pitched great. Five innings is all we can ask.”
With Princeton having started the season by falling 11-2 to North Hamilton in its opener on June 7, Petrone saw progress in the team’s effort against Lawrence.
“The fielding was much better today and the pitching was a lot better today,” said Petrone, whose team fell 16-1 to Hamilton Post 31 on Monday to move to 0-5 and will hosts Trenton Post 93/182 on June 20, and Bordentown Post 26 on June 22 and North Hamilton on June 23. “We have about eight North guys and eight Princeton guys; they are jelling and playing well.”
For Petrone, taking the helm of the Post 218 program this summer has been a homecoming.
“Mr. [Jon] Durbin asked me to do it in like March and I was happy to do it,” said Petrone, who is working as an instructional aide in the Princeton school system and coached middle school baseball and JV boys’ basketball this past year. “It is good to be back. The Petrones have a big history of baseball in Princeton. It is good for me to come full circle and coach. It is a good experience. I know a lot of these kids from the high school so it has been great.”
Hedin, for his part, is looking to make the most out of his final season playing for Post 218 and hopes to remain connected to the program in the future.
“This is the most fun baseball you can have, there is no pressure,” said Hedin, who also starred for the PHS boys’ hockey team and is headed to Rochester Institute of Technology where he plans to play club hockey. “It is summer nights, it is so nice. If I could, I would come back and coach Legion. I would be too old to play. This is a great group of people. It is a great program, I know a lot of the younger people. As long as it’s the people I know, why not.”