04 Jun 2025 Cano’s shot felt all the way to Colombia
BATON ROUGE, LA. – New York Giant outfielder Bobby Thomson hit the “Shot heard around the world” to beat the Brooklyn Dodgers for the 1951 National League pennant.
On Saturday, Little Rock junior Angel Cano hit a three-run homer of his own that helped make school history with the reverberations felt all the way to his native Colombia.
Cano was 4-for-6 with 7 RBI in a 22-10 win over Rhode Island in an elimination game of the Baton Rouge Regional on Saturday afternoon. It was Little Rock’s first NCAA Regional win in school history.
Cano’s three-run homer in the seventh inning gave the Trojans a 15-8 lead and put the game out of reach. “I think that swing was the separator,” Little Rock head coach Chris Curry said. “If you look at each inning, when they scored, great offense, we answered each time.”
Cano’s family was watching the stream of the game on ESPN+ in Colombia and were pleasantly surprised when he was featured in the post-game interview. “I called them after, and they were screaming,” he said. “They were very excited.”
Cano has had some big hits recently. Last weekend, his base knock tied in the game in a 2-1 win over Eastern Illinois in the Ohio Valley Conference Championship game. He started Saturday off with a two-run double and just kept rolling.
“Just sticking with the plan,” he said. “It’s just every pitch is a battle. Pitch by pitch, out by out, inning by inning. We don’t want to stop. We just want to have fun, enjoy the game, and just go out there and give it all up.”
Cano is one of many interesting underdog stories on the Trojans’ roster. He was a sought-after, teenage pro prospect but endured an injury and then was committed to Kansas before being injured again. He was playing junior college baseball in Oklahoma when Little Rock assistant coach Matt Parker, a former Oklahoma JuCo coach started recruiting him.
“He said, ‘Hey, I know where a power-hitting first baseman is,'” Curry said of Parker. “We were able to get Angel here. What a great student, what a great person. I’m very proud of him.”
Breaking Records
Not only did the Trojans make school history with the win over Rhode Island Saturday, but they also made Regional history. The 22 runs is the most scored in a Regional game at Alex Box Stadium. The combined 32 runs is also a record.
Slammin’ Sammy
Little Rock head coach Chris Curry had a hunch about starting junior outfielder Sammy Harris on Saturday against Rhode Island. Turns out he made the right call with Harris, who has been used more as a pinch hitter lately. The Wylie, Texas native was 3-for-5 with a solo homer.
“We really liked the matchup of his swing,” Curry said.
His pinch-hit double drove in the winning run against EIU in the quarterfinals of the OVC Tournament last week.
Scouting Dallas Baptist
Dallas Baptist has had an impressive season. The Patriots are 41-17 after a 12-0 loss to LSU in the Baton Rouge Regional Semifinals Saturday night. They own two wins over Oklahoma and a win each over TCU and Oklahoma State. They had no problem beating Little Rock’s OVC rival SIUE. The Partriots won 14-2, 11-1 and 10-2. They also swept North Dakota State, who just eliminated Kansas from the Fayetteville Regional Saturday.
Four players hit over .300, including Nathan Humphreys (.358), Grady Keaton (.357) and Clayton Krauss (.344). Jay Grant hits .321 and leads DBU with 19 homers. Humphreys has 17 and Krauss 15. Jake Bennett (.276) has hit 12 bombs.
