No one likes to strike out, but Serra High grad Taylor Heon has taken action.
Heon, a junior second baseman at Southeast Missouri State, has struck out only five times in 145 plate appearances this season — that’s once in every 29 plate appearances.
“You tend to think about that at-bat a little more,” Heon said in a telephone interview. “Why did I strike out? Did I miss a good pitch? Why wasn’t I able to make contact? Sometimes, though, they just flat out outpitch you.”
Heon (5-foot-8, 175 pounds) doesn’t have to make that long walk back to the dugout very often. Through 34 games, he has been on base 43 percent of the time, including 36 hits and 23 walks. “Swing and a miss” just isn’t in his vocabulary.
Southeast Missouri State is preparing for an important Ohio Valley Conference series this weekend at league leader Austin Peay in Tennessee. The second-place Redhawks (10-6) trail the Governors (13-4) by 21/2 games.
Southeast Missouri State leads the conference with a .312 batting average and is third with a team ERA of 4.77. The Governors are right behind, with a .308 average and have a 5.72 ERA.
Heon, who is batting .310 and has driven in 19 runs, also contributes defensively. The Redhawks lead the OVC with a .971 fielding percentage.
Heon returned to action this year after suffering a season-ending injury six games into the 2010 schedule. He was off to a good start, too, hitting .368 (7 for 19) with six RBIs before having to redshirt.
Though he would rather have been playing, Heon took the opportunity to study the game from a different perspective.
“I sat back and watched how pitchers threw to hitters,” he said. “I found myself paying attention to a lot more things than my own position. It was actually good to take in the game a little bit.”
Heon felt ready to play at the Division I level after spending two years at Skyline College, where he earned All-Coast Conference honors both years and was named the Defensive Player of the Year as a sophomore.
As a freshman, he hit a walk-off double to help the Trojans win a first-round game in the state playoffs.
“That was the greatest thing for me,” Heon said. “Out of Serra, I had no offers and no choices. (Coaches) Dino Nomicos and John Quintell really helped me prepare for the next level and helped me find Southeast Missouri State. As far as baseball, I felt well-prepared.”
He had plenty of choices out of Skyline, with colleges such as Pepperdine, UC Davis and Missouri Western also showing interest.
At Serra he was a first team All-WCAL pick and an All-County selection in his final two years, helping the Padres win two league titles under Pete Jensen.
Heon, who turns 22 on Friday, said Southeast Missouri State just felt right, even though he is the only player on the roster from west of the Central time zone. Mark Hogan, the school’s winningest coach, had a lot to do with that.
“The whole coaching staff has been through it all,” Heon said. “They’ve been around, and they know what it takes and how to watch for things.”
Heon’s only real complaint is the redesigned bat put into use this year, intended to cut down on injuries. Even then, he acknowledges, it isn’t not that bad.
“There’s not as much pop,” he said. “I mean, I don’t have any home runs, and you have to play small ball a little more. Still, we do have quite a few guys who can hit it out if the park.”
The Redhawks average just over a home run per game, with 46. Heon is often on base at the time, not that he would mind hitting one or two himself.
