Owens' bat has results

Blue Crabs hitting coach busting out of season-long slump

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

His immense struggles were particularly magnified given his special dual role for the Blue Crabs as their everyday center fielder and hitting coach.

"It was tough. It's embarrassing to an extent because you're trying to help guys out [as the hitting coach], but you can't hit your weight," the 200-pound Owens said. "The type of hitter I am, I get into certain streaks that I hang onto for a while."

The good news for the Blue Crabs is Owens is as optimistic as he is streaky, his dynamic personality making for a consummate team leader that refused to be demoralized by what had evolved into a season-long slump.

Suddenly now, the Blue Crabs hitting coach has been hitting — a lot.

Entering Tuesday's scheduled game at Bridgeport (Conn.) that finished too late for inclusion into this edition, Owens' bat was more like a double-edged sword, revealing its streaky hot ways in his previous eight games.

During that span, Owens hit a blistering .393 (11 for 28) to raise his average on the season to .214 — a massive upward climb of 38 points in nine days — while producing explosive numbers: 3 home runs, 9 RBIs, 6 runs scored and 3 doubles.

Not coincidentally, the Blue Crabs are enjoying their hottest stretch of the season with seven wins in their last 10 games after Monday's 6-0 shutout to open a four-game series at Bridgeport for their second straight victory.

The Blue Crabs were coming off an impressive winning series at York, first place in the Freedom Division at 28-22 through Monday, over the weekend by taking two of three. That made for the Blue Crabs' fourth straight winning series.

After an inconsistent start to the season — mostly due to the offense — the Blue Crabs were 27-22 entering Tuesday, tied for second place in the Liberty Division with Long Island and just 1 1/2 games behind a hot Camden squad (28-20) as the 70-game first half of the season winds down with heated races for playoff spots unfolding.

"The numbers speak for themselves," Blue Crabs third baseman Pat Osborn said about how well Owens is hitting lately. "He's one of the big reasons we've turned this thing around offensively. All the credit goes to Jeremy and [manager Butch Hobson]. Jeremy works his tail off, and he's made adjustments. He's a sparkplug, just the way he approaches the game with his attitude. I think everyone kind of feeds off him. This team is very, very contagious, and he started this [winning run]. It snowballed with him."

"I do feel like I'm one of those players — when I go, we go. It does seem that way," said Owens, the reigning home run leader in the league after smacking 28 last year. He also struck out a league-record 181 times, displaying his streaky ways. "I like being that guy. My glass is always half full, and I like to rub off on guys that way.

"I didn't start [the season] like I would've liked to, but I knew it would come around some time."

Owens noticed his offensive turnaround taking form in the Newark series last week at home in Waldorf's Regency Furniture Stadium where the Blue Crabs claimed two out of three.

"There were certain pitches I took and certain pitches I was swinging at," he said. "Maybe that's what it took. It got my confidence up."

Owens cranked three long balls during the three-game series with Newark, hitting two of them in back-to-back fashion with teammates.

He hit a pair of homers in Thursday's 4-1 win over Newark, bringing his season total to six through Monday. The first one was crushed the opposite way to right-center field.

"Honestly, when I hit that ball to right-center, that skyrocketed my confidence," Owens added. "Anytime you take a ball and drive it the opposite way for a righty, that really got [me going]. I'm working counts a lot. I'm not fouling off fastballs, I'm putting them in play."

The Blue Crabs pitching has been tops in the league for just about the entire season, but their bats have been another story.

A lineup built around power, the Blue Crabs have been last in the league in batting average for the majority of the season.

But the Blue Crabs will trade a mediocre average if the extra-base hits are coming in bountiful array.

Following a slow start with hitting the long ball, the Blue Crabs were second in the league entering Tuesday with 50 homers, just five behind Lancaster. And their .415 slugging percentage was fourth best.

Monday, they peppered Bridgeport pitching for seven extra-base hits — five doubles and two triples. Owens, responsible for one of the doubles, helped lead the way with a 2-for-3 showing, two runs scored and an RBI.

Osborn, Kody Kirkland and Matt Craig, the Blue Crabs' top bat with a .331 average through Monday, each had two hits for Southern Maryland in the win.

Craig belted two doubles while Osborn also had a two-bagger. Kirkland stroked his fifth triple of the season, tying him for second in the league.

Saturday's slated game at York was rained out, thus the Blue Crabs played a doubleheader Sunday that was split.

dcogle@somdnews.com

One lucky fan

Owens has been so opportunistic with the bat recently that his confidence-boosting shot over the right-center field wall Thursday won his Southern Maryland host parent $5,000, in addition to aiding the Blue Crabs to victory.

David Prohaska, whose home is where Owens — a Tennessee native — lives during the season, was randomly chosen before the game to win the money if the Blue Crabs hit back-to-back homers in the fifth inning, complements of Southern Maryland Physical Therapy and Chiropractic's Back-to-Back Jacks promotion.

After Kody Kirkland went deep to knot the game at 1 in the fifth, Owens followed suit with a solo shot of his own on the first pitch he saw, expanding the wallet of an elated Prohaska, who was presented on the field with a big check.

It's the second straight year that a lucky fan has come away with the money from the promotion. Last season, Owens also proved to be clutch when it comes to the promotion as he homered in consecutive fashion with then-teammate Lance Burkhart to make season-ticket holder J.T. Hindle a richer fan.

DALLAS COGLE

Atlantic League standings

(Standings through Monday)

Liberty Division W L Pct. GB Streak Last 10

Camden 28 20 .583 ---- L-1 8-2

Southern Maryland 27 22 .551 1.5 W-2 7-3

Long Island 27 22 .551 1.5 W-1 5-5

Bridgeport 22 27 .449 6.5 L-1 4-6

Freedom Division W L Pct. GB Streak Last 10

York 28 22 .560 ---- W-1 5-5

Somerset 27 23 .540 1.0 L-4 4-6

Lancaster 20 29 .408 7.5 W-2 5-5

Newark 18 32 .360 10.0 L-3 3-7

Thursday

Blue Crabs 4, Newark 1

Newark 001 000 000 — 1 8 0

Blue Crabs 000 031 000 — 4 8 0

WP Santos (4-1), LP Smith (3-5), Save Warden (9)

Extra-base hits: 2B — Benjamin (BC); HR — Kirkland (BC, 3),

Owens 2 (BC, 6)

Friday

Blue Crabs 5, York 0

Blue Crabs 002 030 000 — 5 8 0

York 000 000 000 — 0 5 0

WP Newby (1-2), LP Thurman (4-3)

Extra-base hits: 2B — Hill (BC), Craig (BC), Crozier (BC), Grimes (Y); HR — Garcia (BC, 8)

Sunday

Game 1

York 10, Blue Crabs 7

Blue Crabs 010 051 0 — 7 9 2

York 001 702 0 — 10 14 0

WP Rodriguez (2-0), LP Robertson (2-1), Save Stidfole (2)

Extra-base hits: 2B — Craig (BC), Crozier (BC), Castro (Y), Shanks (Y), Jeroloman (Y); HR — Bladergroen (Y, 7)

Game 2

Blue Crabs 7, York 1

Blue Crabs 500 002 0 — 7 9 1

York 000 100 0 — 1 4 0

WP Rayborn (4-3), LP Zimmermann (4-1)

Extra-base hits: 2B — Garcia (BC), Cumberland (BC), Castro (Y)

Monday

Blue Crabs 6, Bridgeport 0

Blue Crabs 010 002 030 — 6 11 0

Bridgeport 000 000 000 — 0 5 0

WP Reichert (6-4), LP Jackson (2-7)

Extra-base hits: 2B — Hill (BC), Osborn (BC), Craig (BC) 2,

Owens (BC), Chaves (B); 3B — Cumberland (BC), Kirkland (BC)