Prep Baseball : Double Play Combo Is So Smooth, They Could Be Brothers

There is a reason why Ocean View High School has one of the smoothest double-play combinations in Orange County high school baseball.

The team’s second baseman and shortstop have been playing together virtually since they could walk. They are brothers Steve Hernandez, 17, who plays second, and Daniel, 16, who plays shortstop.

This season, with the help of first baseman Mike Burns, the Hernandez brothers have turned 16 of Ocean View’s 21 double plays--more than any Ocean View team in the school’s 11-year history, according to Coach Steve Barrett.

“I’ll probably coach here 10 more years before we have a combination anywhere close-- if we ever have one,” said Barrett, who took over as varsity coach this year after two seasons as the freshman-sophomore coach.

The brothers’ stellar fielding has given Ocean View (15-8, 7-5) defensive strength up the middle and is one of the reasons for the team’s success. With three games to play, the Seahawks are one game out of first place in the Sunset League, behind Fountain Valley and Westminster.

“It makes a world of difference having them,” Barrett said. “If you’re a pitcher and get in a one-out, bases-loaded jam and can get a ground ball to shortstop, you’re out of the inning. It makes a difference, especially in high school ball where, if you don’t execute that double play, what you end up with is a four- or five-run inning.”

Turning the double play has become almost second nature to the brothers, who have played together on and off since Little League.

“It’s natural to me now,” Steve said. “It’s like a routine. I like when a runner gets on first. I don’t really care who it is, I just want to turn a double.”

Said Daniel: “We have been playing together for a long time, so we’re comfortable. I know where he wants the ball, so that makes it easier.”

Daniel, in his second year on the varsity, might be the more gifted fielder. In fact he used to sleep with a glove when he was 2, his mother, Olga, said.

Barrett nicknamed Daniel “Magic” because, he said, “You can hit him a ground ball on the roughest field . . . and he’ll get the trickiest hop and the ball seems to find a way into his glove.”

Steve, a returning All-Sunset League selection in his third year on the varsity, might have an edge on his brother in speed and strength. He leads the team in stolen bases with 12, and is hitting .300 with 10 RBIs and 17 runs. Daniel is hitting .385 with 17 runs and 11 RBIs.

Though others might compare the brothers’ play, Daniel and Steve rarely do, following the example of their father, Robert.

A former pitcher in high school and fast-pitch softball, Robert, 47, encouraged his sons to play sports but discouraged comparisons.

He used to pitch them plastic balls when they were 5 and 6 years old. At the time, Daniel was making good contact with the ball, but Steve was not.

“My wife or someone would say, ‘Oh look, he is better.’ I would say, ‘Don’t do that,’ because then you are going to discourage one,” Robert said.

From the time the brothers were 5, their father took them to watch his fast-pitch games or to watch the pros, and he would sit and discuss the games with them.

The brothers never planned to be a double-play combination. In fact, they pitched played shortstop in Little League. Steve converted to second because Ocean View already had a shortstop ahead of him, Barrett said.

“It was never prearranged,” their father said. “How can you plan something like that?”