Braves' Langeliers hits first pro homer

After a two-week break from the ballfield, Braves prospect Shea Langeliers is feeling right at home.
The ninth overall pick in this month's Draft went 2-for-3 with his first Minor League homer, three RBIs and a pair of walks as Class A Rome clipped Hagerstown, 5-3, on Saturday at State Mutual Stadium.

It's been a whirlwind month for the Baylor product. On June 1, he went 5-for-6 with three homers and set an NCAA postseason record with 11 RBIs in the Bears' 24-6 win over Nebraska Omaha in the Regionals. A day later, his college career ended with a loss to UCLA. The next day, the Braves selected the 6-foot catcher as their backstop of the future. He made his South Atlantic League debut Friday, going 0-for-2 with a walk.
On Saturday, with two outs in the first inning, Braden Shewmake reached on a throwing error by pitcher Francys Peguero to bring up Langeliers. After taking the right-hander's first pitch for a ball, he launched a two-run dinger over the left-center field wall for his first professional hit.
Gameday box score
"My approach is to wait for the fastball," he said. "In this league, there are some good pitchers. You have to see the ball up, be more aggressive. I got a pitch to handle and put a good swing on it.
"Off the bat, it felt pretty good," Langeliers added, noting, "once I saw the ball in flight and the left fielder [Nationals No. 30 prospect Justin Connell] moving on it," he knew it was gone.
He walked in the third, then added an RBI single to left in the fourth as Rome took a 4-0 lead.
Facing right-handed reliever Chandler Day in the sixth, Langeliers walked again with two outs but was left stranded. He struck out swinging in the eighth.
"The competition in college was very good," he said, "and here, take the top two, three arms from college teams -- all are super-good, throw mid- to low-90s and have a good breaking ball. I just have to stick with my approach.
"I'm ready to play every day. I've had two weeks off and sitting for those two weeks, I got anxious. But so far, so good."
The Braves pounded out 11 hits, including two apiece for Shewmake, Ariel Montesino and Jeremy Fernandez, who slugged his first homer.
Dilmer Mejia (4-1) scattered four hits and a walk while allowing one run over five innings to pick up the win. He struck out four. Jose Montilla recorded his second save, yielding one run on two hits with two punchouts in 3 1/3 frames.
Cody Wilson and Kyle Marinconz had two hits apiece for Hagerstown.
Peguero fell to 2-6 after allowing four runs -- two earned -- on eight hits and three walks while striking out four in 4 2/3 innings.
After his long ball, Langeliers said he did not have time to bask in the moment -- it was time to focus on Mejia, the pitching game plan and the rest of the night.

"Hitting and catching are two separate things," he said. "As soon as I stepped back on the field with my gear on, offense went out the window. I had to focus on defense."
After the game, however, he was able to share the emotion during a long-distance call with his father, Steve.
"Yeah, first call was to my dad. He was super-happy," Langeliers said. "When I was drafted, it was really emotional.
"Baseball has been our thing since I was 3, 4 years old," he said, his voice trailing off. "Tonight was pretty special."