Spring 06 Baseball POY: Multitalented Henry plays through injuries, sparks Warren County's playoff run
By Ryan Sonner (Daily Staff Writer)
FRONT ROYAL — Jesse Henry played half the season with strained ligaments in his right arm.
Everyone should be so lucky.
The Warren County senior shrugged off the pain and inconvenience, and was still the best player in the area. He hit a remarkable .520 and helped the Wildcats claim their first Northwestern District championship since 1987.
Henry, who also had one of the best gloves in the area at shortstop, was the easy choice as The Northern Virginia Daily's Baseball Player of the Year.
Henry also led the area with seven home runs. He drove in 29 runs and struck out just 10 times in 75 at-bats.
"He's a baseball player, not a high school athlete that plays baseball," Sherando coach Pepper Martin said. "He knows the game well. He's a five-tool player."
One of those tools — his strong right arm — was taken away from him in the season's seventh game. Henry began the year as the team's everyday shortstop, but he also was the top pitcher in the Wildcats' rotation.
In a game against Sherando, Henry threw out his arm. He immediately thought the worst.
"I was scared to death," he said. "I heard a pop and didn't know what was going on."
The injury wasn't as bad as Henry envisioned. He was taken out of the rotation and spent the next few games rotating between the outfield and first base. It took a few weeks of rehab before Henry returned to shortstop.
He was a perfect 3-0 on the bump and he made sure coach Todd Miller knew it.
"He's a senior and it's his last year," Miller said. "He would mention to me that if we needed him, he was ready. He wanted to jump back in there."
Despite Henry being less than 100 percent, the Wildcats rolled off wins in their first 11 games to take a commanding lead in the race for the district title. Warren County then lost back-to-back games, opening a few eyes.
The Wildcats rebounded and finished the regular season tied with Sherando — a one-game playoff would determine the district champ and the automatic Region II berth. That's when Henry took over.
He hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning to tie the game and drove in the winning run in the eighth inning with a double to center.
Martin had seen about enough of Henry.
"In three games, he was 7 for 8 against us," he said. "We tried breaking balls, change-ups, fastballs, busting him in on the hands ... we couldn't get him out."
Henry's performance in the one-game playoff was more about retribution. He made two costly errors in the fourth inning that allowed the tying run to score.
"One was a bad throw to first; I threw it in the dirt," Henry said. "The other one, I flat-out booted."
His response at the plate in the sixth and eighth innings more than made up for the pair of miscues.
"He came up big," Miller said. "That tells you a little about his character right there. He just battled."
Long before that game, Henry set a personal goal that even he thought was unattainable. After all, hitting above .500 isn't a walk in the park. An unusual aid in that goal was his arm injury.
"If anything, it helped my hitting," he said. "I couldn't throw, so I was getting extra cuts in the cage. It really didn't affect my swing."
Henry was second among all area hitters last year with a .450 average. Adding 50 points to that wouldn't be easy, but if anyone could do it, Martin said, it was Henry.
"He has great work ethic," Martin said. "Today's players really like to work on what they do well. I think one thing that set him apart through his years is that he worked on the areas he needed to improve on."
Henry's next challenge is college. He received interest late in the season from Division I Longwood, but a sub-3.0 GPA will likely keep him from playing at the highest level.
"That was a wake-up call," he said.
Instead, Henry is leaning toward Division III Shenandoah, where he would almost certainly contribute immediately. Shenandoah's proximity to Front Royal is playing a major role in Henry's college decision.
"It'll be a lot easier on my family to come watch me play, especially my grandpa and grandma," he said. "They haven't missed a game since T-ball."
Everyone should be so lucky.
R Contact Ryan Sonner at rsonner@nvdaily.com
School: Warren County
Class: Senior
Position: Shortstop
Claim to fame: Henry led the area with a .520 batting average and helped the Wildcats win their first Northwestern District title since 1987. Henry hit seven home runs, drove in 29 runs and struck out just 10 times all season.
