SS Bregman dazzles as JetHawks beat Quakes
July 29, 2015
By ALONSO TACANGA/Valley Press
LANCASTER -- As JetHawks shortstop Alex Bregman, the No. 2 overall pick of last June’s MLB Draft, approached the locker room after a 4-2 win over Rancho Cucamonga on Wednesday night, teammate James Ramsay pointed at him and called him “unbelievable.”
Moments later, another teammate, outfielder Derek Fisher, deemed him “incredible.”
“(Bregman) is here for a reason as fast as he got here,” Fisher said.
Two starts into his JetHawks career, the top prospect in the Houston farm system already has multiple fans in the Lancaster clubhouse. Even as he has yet to get a hit.
With a handful of spectacular defensive plays that robbed the Quakes of several bases in a pitchers’ duel, the shortstop made his impact felt even as he went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.
“Just a lot of practice, man,” said Bregman, who is 0-for-10 at the plate through three games with the JetHawks. “You just go out there and play hard every play. Never take a pitch off.”
With the game tied 2-2 in the top of the eighth, Bregman had his best gem of the night after the Quakes’ Jacob Scavuzzo hit a hard grounder seemingly out of the shortstop’s reach with one out.
But Bregman dove to his right, backhanded the ball, got up and fired to first with amazing quickness and strength to get the all-important second out.
“He’s competitive. He’s tough,” Fisher said.
In the bottom part of the frame, Fisher had a one-out bunt single that Quakes reliever Rob Rogers threw away past first base to allow the JetHawks outfielder to reach third.
J.D. Davis followed with a walk and Ronnie Mitchell, who didn’t play the night before due to injury, delivered the go-ahead run with an RBI double to center.
“In those situations, particularly late in the game, you got to be aggressive,” Mitchell said.
Jamie Ritchie walked to load the bases and Marc Wik had a sac fly to add a fourth run, matching the number of hits the JetHawks had for the game.
On this night, it looked for a moment as if Lancaster wouldn’t even get half of that. Thanks to Mott Hyde, who had the offensive gem of the night, that wasn’t the case.
With the JetHawks trailing 1-0 and getting one-hit through 6.1 innings, Hyde smacked a ball deep to right-center that Quakes center fielder Brian Wolfe just missed on an all-out dive. The second baseman reached home for a two-run inside-the-park home run.
“Right off the bat, if he didn’t catch it, I was thinking home,” Hyde said. “I feel like we just needed a spark to get it going.”
Brandon Dixon would tie the game in the following frame with a solo shot beyond the left field wall. Bregman and Mitchell would make sure it was only momentary.
Keegan Yuhl started for the JetHawks and allowed one run on seven hits and five strikeouts in six innings. Albert Minnis (2-3) got the win by pitching two innings of one-run ball and Tyler Brunnemann got his fourth save with a 1-2-3 ninth.
“The pitchers did a good job of competing and throwing strikes,” Bregman said. “They kept us on our toes defensively and put us in that position to make plays.”
Starting against the JetHawks was right-hander Chase De Jong, the 19th-ranked Dodgers prospect according to MLBPipeline.com. He struck out the side in the first inning and went on to strike out eight in five innings while only giving up one hit and three walks.
Bregman’s final outstanding play of the night was also the last one of the game, as a deep pop fly seemed destined to land in no man’s land near left field.
All the way from the left hole, Bregman ran and caught the ball for the final out of a seven-game stand in which the JetHawks went 4-3 as Fisher looked on and scratched his head in amazement nearby.
“I think a lot of places that’s a hit,” Fisher said. “I don’t know if I was going to catch that.
“Through two games of playing with him when he says, ‘I got it,’ you let him have it. He’s going to catch it.”
By ALONSO TACANGA/Valley Press
LANCASTER -- As JetHawks shortstop Alex Bregman, the No. 2 overall pick of last June’s MLB Draft, approached the locker room after a 4-2 win over Rancho Cucamonga on Wednesday night, teammate James Ramsay pointed at him and called him “unbelievable.”
Moments later, another teammate, outfielder Derek Fisher, deemed him “incredible.”
“(Bregman) is here for a reason as fast as he got here,” Fisher said.
Two starts into his JetHawks career, the top prospect in the Houston farm system already has multiple fans in the Lancaster clubhouse. Even as he has yet to get a hit.
With a handful of spectacular defensive plays that robbed the Quakes of several bases in a pitchers’ duel, the shortstop made his impact felt even as he went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.
“Just a lot of practice, man,” said Bregman, who is 0-for-10 at the plate through three games with the JetHawks. “You just go out there and play hard every play. Never take a pitch off.”
With the game tied 2-2 in the top of the eighth, Bregman had his best gem of the night after the Quakes’ Jacob Scavuzzo hit a hard grounder seemingly out of the shortstop’s reach with one out.
But Bregman dove to his right, backhanded the ball, got up and fired to first with amazing quickness and strength to get the all-important second out.
“He’s competitive. He’s tough,” Fisher said.
In the bottom part of the frame, Fisher had a one-out bunt single that Quakes reliever Rob Rogers threw away past first base to allow the JetHawks outfielder to reach third.
J.D. Davis followed with a walk and Ronnie Mitchell, who didn’t play the night before due to injury, delivered the go-ahead run with an RBI double to center.
“In those situations, particularly late in the game, you got to be aggressive,” Mitchell said.
Jamie Ritchie walked to load the bases and Marc Wik had a sac fly to add a fourth run, matching the number of hits the JetHawks had for the game.
On this night, it looked for a moment as if Lancaster wouldn’t even get half of that. Thanks to Mott Hyde, who had the offensive gem of the night, that wasn’t the case.
With the JetHawks trailing 1-0 and getting one-hit through 6.1 innings, Hyde smacked a ball deep to right-center that Quakes center fielder Brian Wolfe just missed on an all-out dive. The second baseman reached home for a two-run inside-the-park home run.
“Right off the bat, if he didn’t catch it, I was thinking home,” Hyde said. “I feel like we just needed a spark to get it going.”
Brandon Dixon would tie the game in the following frame with a solo shot beyond the left field wall. Bregman and Mitchell would make sure it was only momentary.
Keegan Yuhl started for the JetHawks and allowed one run on seven hits and five strikeouts in six innings. Albert Minnis (2-3) got the win by pitching two innings of one-run ball and Tyler Brunnemann got his fourth save with a 1-2-3 ninth.
“The pitchers did a good job of competing and throwing strikes,” Bregman said. “They kept us on our toes defensively and put us in that position to make plays.”
Starting against the JetHawks was right-hander Chase De Jong, the 19th-ranked Dodgers prospect according to MLBPipeline.com. He struck out the side in the first inning and went on to strike out eight in five innings while only giving up one hit and three walks.
Bregman’s final outstanding play of the night was also the last one of the game, as a deep pop fly seemed destined to land in no man’s land near left field.
All the way from the left hole, Bregman ran and caught the ball for the final out of a seven-game stand in which the JetHawks went 4-3 as Fisher looked on and scratched his head in amazement nearby.
“I think a lot of places that’s a hit,” Fisher said. “I don’t know if I was going to catch that.
“Through two games of playing with him when he says, ‘I got it,’ you let him have it. He’s going to catch it.”