By PAUL GOTHAM
HENRIETTA, N.Y. — A week and a half ago, Monroe Community College shortstop Tobey Wright (Rochester, N.Y./Rush-Henrietta) was mired in a 2-for-16 slump. The Tribunes’ leading hitter from a year ago with a .415 batting average before an ACL injury ended his season, checked in at .270 after a miserable 0-for-6 performance in a doubleheader sweep at the hands of Niagara County Community College.
Since then, Wright is hitting .737 (14-for-19) and has raised his average more than 100 points to .378. As part of that, he has as many extra-base hits in the past six games as did in his previous 19 outings.
And the difference might have to do with the redshirt freshman, a predominantly right-handed batter, taking swings during batting practice from the other side of the plate.
“Coach saw me off the tee,” Wright said Saturday after Monroe’s doubleheader sweep (15-1/14-2) of Mohawk Valley Community College in NJCAA action from Tribune Field. “I took one swing (from the left). He was like ‘You swing left-handed?'”
The fluid motion reminded Dave Brust of a former Atlanta Brave who is now a member of the MLB Hall of Fame.
“You look like Chipper Jones, that’s what he told me. Ever since then, in batting practice I started taking a round righty and then with the next group, I’ll hit lefty.”
The result is five straight multi-hit games.
“It’s hard to put into words, but he seems really happy about being able to do it,” said Brust, MCC’s head coach. “When I first saw it, he looked so natural and so effective. I thought ‘Wow, that’s a great-looking swing.’ Maybe it’s taken some pressure off the demands of hitting right-handed. I don’t know.”
After hitting from the right side in Game 1 on Saturday, Wright, hitting clean-up, switched around for the nightcap and went 2-for-3 with a walk, a double, two RBI and three runs scored.
“I batted left-handed, I want to say, the summer going into my junior year of high school and then again going into my senior year. I hit so well right-handed that I put it aside. This year, I’m trying to get back into it.”
He doubled and scored in a five-run first and drove in two with a single in a three-run second as the Tribunes grabbed an 8-0 lead.
“I think Tobey feels really good about utilizing a gift that he has,” Brust said. “For whatever reason, he didn’t bring it up last year.”
As Wright goes, so too have the Tribunes (14-11), winners of three straight and five of six games.
“A lot of quality at-bats and a lot of quality line drives especially in RBI situations,” Brust said. “We work on it, so it’s nice to see it happen.”
Liam Eshelman (Victor, N.Y./Victor HS) struck out three and allowed one run on two hits and two walks over three innings of work on the mound. Caleb Causey (Richmond, VA/Hargrave Military Academy) fanned two over two relief innings while surrendering a run on two hits and two walks.
Joe Wintermute (Rochester, N.Y./Irondequoit HS) doubled and scored twice out of the leadoff spot in the win. Joe Grzeskowiak (Rochester, N.Y./Rush-Henrietta) singled, walked, drove in a run and scored twice. Parker Zeiser (Victor, N.Y./Victor HS) cleared the bases with a double. Alex Simons (Webster, N.Y./Webster Schroeder) tripled, drove in two and scored a run. Thomas Rebis (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Odyssey) went 2-for-3 with a double, walk, RBI and run scored. Lucas Brown (Toronto, ON/Humberside Collegiate) singled, walked, drove in a run and scored. Jackson Hubbard (Sayre, PA/ Sayre HS) singled and scored.
Chuckie Sobaszek (Rochester, N.Y./Rush-Henrietta) improved to 3-0 on the season with the win in Game 1. The freshman left-hander struck out seven and allowed three hits and two walks. The run scored against Sobaszek was unearned.
Wright went 3-for-4 with a double, four RBI and two runs scored. Wright leads the Tribs with 29 RBI. Wintermute was 2-for-2 with a triple, three RBI and two runs scored. Zeiser homered, walked and drove in two. Paul Fiene (Ronkokoma/Sachem HS North) went 3-for-3 with a double, two RBI and a run scored. Kaleb Juliano (Webster, N.Y./Webster Schroeder) singled, walked and scored three runs. Grzeskowiak went 2-for-2 with a walk, RBI and two runs scored.
ACE@MCC is so proud of Tobey! We are happy to be part of the school community and know Tobey personally. He is not only a great player but a great guy. We can’t wait to see him in the MLB!
Tobey Wright could be in the Los Angeles Dodgers