Hot-hitting Keen helps Radford advance in Big South baseball tourney

When American Legion Post 325 finished playing last summer, Reggie Keen figured he’d likely never play again at Dan Daniel Park, a field where he participated countless legion and high school games.

“I thought that I would never be able to play on that field again,” the former George Washington High School standout said. “I walked away from it with a lot of memories.”

Keen, however, added a few more at his hometown field as his Radford Highlanders beat Charleston Southern 6-1 in the opening round of the Big South Conference tournament Tuesday at Dan Daniel Park, this year’s venue for the five-day event.

Keen went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI singles and a run scored while extending his hitting streak to 17 games. He also scored a run after reaching on an error. Combine that with teammate Alex Gregory’s 3-for-4 day at the plate and Eric Evans’ solid day on the mound and it was more than enough for the Highlanders to advance to the second round, where they’ll play Liberty today at 3 p.m. at Dan Daniel Park.

“It felt so good to come play in the outfield,” Keen said after the win. “You go to the plate and you’ve got all your fans, your family and friends cheering you on in the batter’s box. It was just high school again. It felt good.”

For Keen, his sophomore season has been a breakout year. After Tuesday’s win, the Radford right fielder is hitting .379 with 38 RBIs and 14 doubles. Those numbers are not only among the team leaders at Radford, but it puts him among the leaders in the Big South.

“Coming into this season, our new coaches came in and put it on the table for all of us as hitters,” Keen said. “I took it in and tried to work hard. I’ve been very fortunate.”

First-year Radford coach Joe Raccuia wasn’t sure what to expect from Keen, an invited walk-on who saw limited playing time as a freshman last season.

“When you look at the squad list and you realize he’s not on any kind of scholarship money and he was a recruited walk-on and he only had minimal at-bats last year, you kind of go with the former coaching staff and say they must have seen this in this guy,” Raccuia said.

Raccuia soon realized why Keen was on the club.

“As the fall progressed, he was by far the guy that stood out,” Raccuia said. “He’s probably one of our most athletic guys on the team and he’s a great defender in right. He might be the best defensive player in right field in the league.”

“Offensively, he’s not a special hitter,” Raccuia added. “He’s just a guy that continues to do well. He stays in his approach and he’s even-keeled.”

Keen had seven hits and five RBIs in 16 at-bats as a freshman, but he missed more than a month due to hernia surgery.

“Last year, I got the opportunity to play in a couple of games,” Keen said. “When I did get that opportunity, I came in and I got a couple of hits.”

In his 14 years coaching, Raccuia knows that a player’s sophomore season tends to be a sign of what might come.

“Sophomore year, you want guys to definitely make the jump because this is the telling year,” Raccuia said. “Guys can go backward after a freshman year or they can make the jump. He has obviously made the jump.”

After hitting .409 with seven doubles and 17 RBIs as a senior at GW, Keen knew he could succeed at the Division I level if he stayed focused.

“I’ve always been told by my parents and my coaches that if you work hard enough then you will start seeing results,” Keen said. “I didn’t know that I was going to have a season like this, but I always knew that if I worked hard enough that I would have the ability to have a season like this.”