SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — In another timeline where none of Puerto Rico’s stars were absent from the tournament, Darell Hernaiz would be in Arizona, sharpening his skills in spring training with the Athletics. He would have spent part of Saturday playing one of the team’s split-squad games, every at-bat an opportunity to win an Opening Day roster spot.

But he’s in this timeline, where his native land’s most famous infielders couldn’t join Team Rubio at Hiram Bithorn Stadium for the first World Baseball Classic games held in Puerto Rico in 13 years. And in this timeline, the 24-year-old just became a star himself.

Hernaiz’s two-out home run in the 10th inning secured a 4-3 walk-off victory for Puerto Rico over Panama — and likely cemented the kid in the island’s collective consciousness.

What a scene pic.twitter.com/x09pisbvhW

— Maria Torres (@maria_torres3) March 8, 2026

A significant portion of the announced crowd of 18,925 was still present moments before Hernaiz ran the bases, tugging on the logo of his jersey in his excitement. Pandemonium erupted in the stands and on the field alike, erasing the upset that had set in minutes earlier when Puerto Rico lost its challenge of a double play call on a Carlos Cortes grounder that tied the score at 3.

In the 20-year history of the World Baseball Classic, no player had hit a walk-off home run before Ozzie Albies hit one for the Netherlands in Miami on Saturday.

The instant Hernaiz crushed a waist-high fastball from Panama’s Severino González to become the second, he blacked out. But he didn’t need full control of his faculties to know in his gut what this moment could eventually come to mean for him, and what it could mean for Puerto Rico.

This blast could come to define Puerto Rico’s identity in this iteration of the WBC as a scrappy underdog bolstered by staunch pitching and clutch hits, especially if its 2-0 advantage here turns into a title game berth for another chance at the island’s first championship.

And for Hernaiz, Saturday could be the boost he needs to cement himself in the major leagues. A fifth-round pick of the Baltimore Orioles in 2019, he has played in only 99 MLB games for the Athletics, who acquired him via trade, since 2024. He has proved himself in the minor leagues with a .297 average and .788 OPS, but his hitting hasn’t yet translated into major-league success.

Hernaiz is 5-for-11 in five Cactus League games this spring after making slight adjustments in the box over the offseason, and he now has three hits in Puerto Rico’s two games.

Should he carry this momentum into the regular season and break out, Hernaiz might eventually look at this WBC the same way veteran outfielder Eddie Rosario — a hero for Puerto Rico in World Baseball Classics past — looks at the 2013 edition.

“I think that 2013 was kind of my debut, (like) my first game in the big leagues,” Rosario said in Spanish before Saturday’s game. “It was right here … against Venezuela at Hiram Bithorn, and it was the most exciting day of my life. I had a great play in the seventh inning that I was able to catch the ball at the fence, and to feel the yelling that I felt inspired me to keep on firing and keep on representing the island of Puerto Rico.”

It isn’t a perfect parallel. Rosario was 21 at the time and still hadn’t debuted with the Minnesota Twins. But if this WBC can get Hernaiz’s MLB career on track, he’ll adopt that perspective anyway.

“It’s one of the reasons I want to come and perform on this stage,” Hernaiz said. “I think it sets up for the future. No big-league game is going to feel too big after experiencing something like this.”