Clarksville's Skyler Luna draws huge compliment after All Area award

When you're described as the Rickey Henderson of anything related to baseball, consider that a huge compliment.

The former Oakland A's star and Hall of Famer ended his career as Major League Baseball's all time leader in stolen bases, runs scored and leadoff home runs.

Clarksville High coach Brian Hetland isn't comparing any of his high school athletes to one of the great baseball players of all time, but Hetland did describe Clarksville's Skyler Luna as having the same kind of effect on high school opponents as Henderson had on his Major League counterparts.

"He's killer when he's on the basepaths," Hetland said about his senior infielder and leadoff hitter. "He's so fast and so smart out there."

And Luna played his way into one of the three finalist for this year's Mr. Baseball award. Now he can add The Leaf-Chronicle All Area Baseball Player of the Year honor to his list of accomplishments this year.

"He hit the ball so well this year and he was unstoppable once he got on base," Hetland said. "He was that Ricky Henderson-type of leadoff guy."

Luna batted .442 with .692 slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of 1.232. His 53 hits led the team and his 33 RBIs was second on the team. He also had 14 doubles, five triples and two home runs.

"People usually don't like to walk the leadoff guy," Hetland said. "Skyler was that guy you absolutely cannot walk because he was going to steal second. He converted 21 of 22 steal chances this year because he was smart and aggressive."

And Luna could place the ball just about anywhere on the field he wanted when the pitch count was in his favor. Luna's spot of choice was up the middle, a tell-tell sign that a hitter is picking up the ball early and delivering the proper swing.

He was named All District 10, district MVP, All Tournament and All Region 5 while scoring 51 runs to lead all players in Montgomery County.

He was also flexible as a defensive infielder. With Clarksville's strong pitching rotation, Luna played third and shortstop depending on who Hetland decided to start on the mound.

"As a freshman, Skyler moved from down near the bottom of the batting order to sixth pretty quickly," Hetland said. "By his junior year we moved him to leadoff and once we put him there, he took off. Our No 1 and 2 hitters (Garrett Spain) combined for 74 RBIs this year."

Reach Prep writer George Robinson at georgerobinson@theleafchronicle.com or (931) 245-0747 and on Twitter @Cville_Sports.