WPIAL Baseball Players react to Austin Hendrick getting drafted by the Cincinnati Reds

SOURCE: The Scorecrow

Back on Wednesday, June 10, 2020, the Cincinnati Reds selected Austin Hendrick with the 12th overall pick in the 2020 MLB Draft. Hendrick was the third high school player selected in this year's draft. Hendrick is the first West Allegheny graduate to ever get drafted into the MLB and second West Allegheny graduate to play in the MLB. Scott Patterson was the first West Allegheny graduated to ever play in the MLB as he played for the New York Yankees and San Diego Padres in 2008.

Hendrick's senior year of high school baseball never happened because of the COVID-19 pandemic. That 2020 West Allegheny baseball team were big time favorites to win in WPIAL 5A and definitely had a shot in winning a PIAA title. What could have been for the Indians?

Hendrick, who just turned 19 yesterday, had never played in a WPIAL baseball championship game as his Indians just could never seem to get over the hump. They were expected to get over that hump for the 2020 season. He has won some PIAA tournament games in his high school career as his Indians, during his sophomore year, were one win away from reaching the 2018 PIAA 5A baseball championship game, but they unfortunately lost to PIAA District 1 school, Marple Newton by a score of 1-0. Marple Newton would win the PIAA 5A baseball title that year.

Arguably one of the most talked about WPIAL baseball players from the Class of 2020, he had won three section titles in his career at West Allegheny as he was both the team's star outfielder and pitcher. Hendrick will play as an outfielder in his major league career.

It's kind of cool to see local athletes around the Pittsburgh and WPIAL area play sports at the professional level. He now joins a list of other former WPIAL baseball players that are now in MLB. Neil Walker (Philadelphia Phillies/Pine-Richland), Alex Kirilloff (Minnesota Twins/Plum), Brendan McKay (Tampa Bay Rays/Blackhawk), Kevan Smith (Tampa Bay Rays/Seneca Valley), and Ian Happ (Chicago Cubs/Mt. Lebanon) are just some of the former WPIAL baseball players that currently play in the MLB.

With Hendrick being drafted, a lot of WPIAL baseball players were not surprised that he was drafted. Bryce Harper, a former baseball player for Franklin Regional, was one player that was not surprised one bit that Hendrick was drafted.

"When playing against him you were able to see that he [Austin Hendrick] was a special player with everything he did. Everyone knew he was going to go [get drafted]. It was just a fact of when and to who," Harper said.

Harper got to see in person what Hendrick was all about when Franklin Regional played West Allegheny in the 2017 WPIAL 5A baseball quarterfinals. Both Harper and Hendrick were freshmen at the time and in that game, Hendrick came on to the mound as a relief pitcher and pitched five innings of one-hit ball. West Allegheny would win the game by a score of 4-1.

Current United States Military Academy Defensive Back, Tyler Brennan was also not surprised that Hendrick was drafted. Brennan graduated from North Hills in 2019 as the team's star football player. However, Brennan also won a WPIAL baseball championship for North Hills in 2018 and he remembers a specific point in which he realized Hendrick was really good at baseball.

"I played him [Austin Hendrick] in the WPIAL baseball playoffs to go to the WPIAL Championship, and I remember him hitting a foul ball the farthest I’ve seen a ball hit and realized how good he really is. Also, I grew up playing him in the summer when he played for West Hills," Brennan said. "I’m really happy for Hendrick as he deserves everything he has earned. Also, I think it’s great how he will now represent Pittsburgh and the WPIAL as he rises to the big show."

Austin Hendrick was the talk of the WPIAL baseball world. Before each game, West Allegheny's opponent would know that they would have to do everything to stop Hendrick because he was just so good and well-known. Former Albert Gallatin baseball player Angelo Doyle sent us a video of his former high school teammate, Jarred Provance, striking out Hendrick in a section game back in 2019 when Albert Gallatin faced West Allegheny. All of Albert Gallatin's was pumped to see Provance, a Penn State Fayette golfer, strike Hendrick out in that game in 2019. It was a big deal striking out Hendrick to many WPIAL baseball players as it showed a lot of players that they can play against one of the best hitters. If you want to see the video of Provance striking out Hendrick, you can direct message Angelo Doyle (@doyle_angelo) on Twitter and he'll probably send it to you.

When other WPIAL baseball players had the opportunity to play against West Allegheny and Hendrick, you know the opponent players were going to play their hearts out. DJ Fleck played baseball at Montour and he knew there was hype when his team would have to go up against Hendrick and West Allegheny.

"To play against Austin was surreal. Even though my teammates and I had approached him at the plate and on the mound as if he was any other good ball player, there was no denying that this guy was on another level. Montour versus West Allegheny was always my favorite game of the year mostly for the rivalry, but also because I played summer ball with some of the West Allegheny guys. Both teams, and all the players, all knew that that game had the most fans, and every time we played them there was an undeniable buzz in the air. Playing against Hendrick and those guys was fun and really brought out the competitive nature of me and my teammates," Fleck said. "I think it’s wonderful that he [Hendrick] was drafted into the MLB. Every kid dreams of playing professional sports, but he really did it. It’s amazing to see that a kid from the WPIAL is going to go to the league and I wish him nothing but the best."

One of Austin's high school teammates, Brayden Horton, knows that Austin is talented and knows much more about his skill sets than anyone else just because of the simple fact that they were teammates. For Horton, he lost his junior year of baseball, but at least he will probably have a senior year of baseball in 2021.

"Playing on the same team in high school with Hendrick was great. He was a great person on and off the field and a great teammate. He was very humble and rarely talked about baseball," Horton said. "I thought it was great [that Hendrick got drafted] and I honestly think he should’ve gone higher. He’s got all the tools to be an MLB player.

Seriously though, West Allegheny had a lot of baseball players returning for the 2020 season and they really could have made a deep run in the WPIAL and PIAA baseball playoffs. Gavin Miller, Mason Timko, Cam Panyko Morris, Horton, Peyton Guilfoil, Ryan Dorste, Zach Lockwich, Dylan Grass, and others were all returning and were expected to have a big 2020 season. Horton is not shy to tell you that this could have been West Allegheny's year if the COVID-19 pandemic did not happen.

"Yes, I do believe this could have been our team's year to win a WPIAL championship. We had a team aspect that we didn’t have in years prior and that would’ve gone a long way," Horton said.

Austin Hendrick's dream of being in the MLB has come true, and now his dream will probably be to win a World Series Title. As he is on the Cincinnati Reds organization, the Pittsburgh Pirates will probably have to face the Pittsburgh native for years to come.

Brentaro Yamane: bkyamane@gmail.com and Twitter/Instagram @BYHilton13