North Hamilton Hibos manager Eric Struble knew his team could use another bat in the lineup to complement Brandon Raba, Matt Juliano and Chris Babkowski.
Brandon Rigas knew it too, and did something about it.
“That’s exactly how I felt,” he said. “I feel like in high school I finally got my starting spot but I was trying to do too much. In Legion, I was just staying calm, just trying to play my game and go from there.”
After struggling offensively and hitting .222 in high school, he exploded during the summer and finished second to Raba in average (.328) and hits (21). The Nottingham rising senior had four doubles, 15 RBI, 12 runs and a .766 OPS. He struck out just six times in 64 at-bats.
“We’ve got Babkowski, Matt Juliano and Jordan Raba, who’ve been doing it for years for us,” Struble said after Rigas’ walk-off RBI single beat Broad Street Park, 3-2, in the regular-season finale. “I know Brandon was working his butt off this winter. He looks like a much more confident hitter out there. He’s played great defensively as he always has.
“This year he’s just taken his game to another level and he’s getting a lot of base hits. He’s come a long way. He’s been on our team three years and he’s improved every year. I’m super proud of him.”
Rigas was proud of himself after beating BSP July 11. For the first time, he wore the Hibos Chain awarded to the Player of the Game. For a while, he was worried that his Legion season would be a repeat of high school.
“I kind of started off a little slow,” he said. “Around the middle of the season I got really hot. Tonight I got my 3-1 pitch, I saw it coming and had to stay short and get it through.”
It was an uplifting finish to the regular season for North Hamilton, although the Hibos suffered a heart-breaking, 4-3 loss to Lawrence in a July 16 state tournament play-in game.
Nonetheless, NH was happy with its 13-8 record considering it was a fairly young team with question marks. But most of the players were on a Nottingham team that won 16 of its final 19 games so the confidence was there.
“In the high school season, we started getting hot and then we started to find our team chemistry playing well together,” Rigas said. “Most of those guys are playing on this team so we were expecting to be one of the top teams. We knew how each other played.”
And Rigas’ emergence played a huge part in the success.
“It mattered a ton,” Struble said. “He and (Aidan) Lipman are two juniors who have come into important roles for us. We needed him. He’s provided a ton of hits, a ton of RBIs in big spots. He’s way more confident than he’s ever been.”
Rigas started with HTRBA and, ironically, his 12-year-old team lost two straight in the District 12 finals to Lawrence, which had several members on this year’s Post 414 team that also ended Rigas’ season.
“Some stuff happened,” he said of the D-12 loss. “It just fell apart.”
From there, he went to Nottingham Babe Ruth and also played travel.
“My freshman year I quit travel because the team I was on tried to convert to another travel team that I wasn’t a fan of,” he said. “I quit and it was right when legion started so I played legion. I didn’t get much PT (playing time), but now I’m starting and finding my stride.”
Rigas got one varsity at-bat as a freshman and doubled that to two as a sophomore. This past spring he collected 14 hits in 63 at-bats as a regular outfielder. Despite the low numbers, Struble felt just the fact he was able to play had a positive impact heading into legion.
“One hundred percent,” said the manager, who is also a Nottingham assistant coach. “Last year was tough for him to find his groove because he wasn’t an everyday guy. Playing every day this year, they had a successful high school season and he was in some big spots for us. As he came through in those spots he got a lot more confident.”
Rigas feels he was healthier this year, which obviously helped.
“Last year I was dealing with an injury in high school. I hurt my groin and I didn’t really see much playing time after that because we had some older guys in the outfield,” he said. “In Legion, I wasn’t hurt, but the leaders were already out there, and I was still a young player trying to develop.”
It was a process, but the development finally showed this summer.
“I think I just found my swing,” Rigas said. “In high school, I had good games and bad games. I was a pretty average hitter. In the summer I don’t know, something just clicked. I started hitting the ball hard, putting the ball in gaps. And I just found it and it was history from there.”
Struble felt Rigas wasn’t giving himself enough credit. The skipper felt a strong work ethic helped fuel his progress.
“He got a lot stronger and bigger,” Struble said. “He was one of those tiny guys when he came in as a freshman. He put some muscle on, especially this off-season. He’s got some power to his game.
“He’s worked on his swing a lot as well. He’s staying a lot more through the zone than he ever has. He’s not striking out as much, not hitting as many fly balls. He’s smoking the ball. We don’t record any exit velo in legion but he’s not getting any cheap hits. He’s doing great.”
Defensively, Rigas is a left fielder by trade, but can also play right, prompting Struble to note: “He’s played great defensively at both corners.”
Rigas also checks all the boxes when it comes to intangibles.
“Brandon’s a quiet dude but steps into the leadership role,” Septer said. “He carries himself quieter than some but lets his actions speak for him.”
Hibos General Manager Bill Scannon added, “He’s a good kid and good teammate. He works hard.”
But for Rigas, it’s not work. It’s fun.
“I love baseball,” he said. “Obviously when I’m slumping I don’t want to be here, I don’t want to go up to bat. But you fight through it and good things will happen.”
Just as they did this summer.
Brandon Rigas displays the Hibos Chain after his 8th-inning hit beat Broad Street Park on July 11. (Photo by Rich Fisher.),
