Max Dineen is swinging sweetly for Pennsville baseball
The junior shortstop is batting .552 with 37 hits, 42 RBIs and 20 extra-base hits.
Max Dineen pulled into third base after another triple the other day and shook his head.
"Just missed it," Dineen told Pennsville coach Matt Karr.
Karr shook his head as well.
"He's off his front foot and hits it off the center-field wall at Schalick, close to 400 feet," Karr said. "I'd like to 'just miss' a pitch like that."
Dineen might be South Jersey's hottest hitter. The Pennsville junior shortstop is batting .552 with 37 hits, 42 RBIs and 20 extra-base hits, including seven doubles, seven triples and six home runs.
In the Eagles' last five games through Wednesday, Dineen was 16 for 20 (.800) with 22 RBIs and 11 extra-base hits.
"Everything he hits is on a line," Haddon Heights coach Eric Newell said after Dineen was 3 for 3 with a pair of doubles Monday in his team's 6-5 loss to the Garnets. "He's got a great swing. He stays back and just explodes."
Dineen grew up in Pennsville, dreaming of playing for the Eagles. He has a special connection to the program's rich tradition.
Pennsville's most fabled team was the 1981 club that went 25-0, the last undefeated squad in South Jersey history. Dineen's uncle Lex Bleckley was the team's senior captain and shortstop who battled .543 and hit a school-record 17 doubles.
"I'm chasing his doubles record," Dineen said.
Bleckley played at the University of Delaware, where he was roommates with Jeff Trout, the father of Los Angeles Angels superstar Mike Trout.
"I'm a big Trout fan," Dineen said. "My uncle, when he went to Delaware, Mike Trout's dad and him, they played second and short together. They're good friends, text all the time."
Bleckley, who has lived in Florida since 1989, has maintained a close relationship with his nephew.
"Max was a kid, even at 5 or 6 years old, who always wanted to hear the old baseball stories," Bleckley said.
Bleckley has followed Dineen's high school career from a distance but has been able to attend some of his nephew's games with the Tri-State Arsenal travel program.
"A couple years ago, Max's freshman year, they came down for spring training," Bleckley said. "We went to a batting cage, set it to the highest setting, maybe 92 mph. Max looked at a couple, then, bang. Smoked a line drive right back at the machine.
"I was like, 'This kid can swing.' "
A right-handed swinger, Dineen specializes in driving the ball into the gap in right-center field.
"He might have the strongest hands I've ever seen," Karr said. "The ball just jumps off his bat."
Karr said Dineen "played his role" as a sophomore on a team that won the Group 1 state title last season. But he's emerged as a leader as a junior.
"He makes practice fun," Karr said. "The kids love him. The coaching staff loves him. He's done everything we've asked of him and more."
Dineen has yet to make a college commitment but has drawn interest from top programs such as Louisville, Clemson, East Carolina, North Carolina State and Mississippi State, among others.
Dineen said he always wanted to play for Pennsville, especially after hearing so many stories about his uncle and other standouts from that 1981 team such as Ron "Boo" Bennett and Lou Berge.
"It's great to be part of this," Dineen said. "Pennsville always battles, always represents. I love playing for them."
@PhilAnastasia