When State College Spikes' designated hitter Aaron Baker slid into third base Tuesday night, he had officially arrived as a professional ballplayer.
Baker's first professional hit, a triple to centerfield that barely missed being the Spikes' second home run of the season, was the biggest one in a three-run fourth inning.
Unfortunately for State College (5-7), Baker's hit was one of the last highlights of the night for State
College, and by the end of the game, Baker's debut had been overshadowed by the bullpen's meltdown in the Spikes' 6-4 loss to the Mahoning Valley Scrappers (8-4) Tuesday night.
"It felt pretty good," Baker said. "Just to get your first hit out of the way. I was able to put a good swing on it and able to drive in a run, so I was able to put in a little of everything in it."
The RBI triple was a big difference from Baker's first professional at-bat in the second, when he struck out rather quickly against Scrappers starter Clayton Cook.
"I thought I was kind of more anxious than anything," Baker said of his first at-bat. "I made it up here a week ago and I watched a lot of games, so I got a good feel of what the pitchers were doing to our guys. But when I got in there, I felt like I was trying to do too much"
Two innings later, Baker came to the plate again against Cook. This time with better results. Baker took a pitch, and eventually battled his way to a full count against Cook when he unleashed a swing that had the 3,002 in attendance at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park in awe, as well as his teammates.
"I was surprised," Spikes third baseman Pat Irvine said. "I thought it was going to get out at first. But he hustled all the way and made it to third. It was a big hit, and part of a big inning."
The towering blast sent Scrappers outfielder Jordan Henry back to the 399 feet sign in center field and forced the center fielder to make a desperate leap that came up empty.
By the time Henry finally fired the ball back toward the infield, Baker had hustled his way to third and driven in the second run of the game for the Spikes. It was an example why the Pittsburgh Pirates made him their 11th round selection out of Oklahoma in the 2009 MLB Draft and why he left Oklahoma tied for eighth on the Sooners' all-time RBI list.
And it showed the Scrappers enough that Baker was walked on four pitches his next time up in the sixth.
"They were not going to let him hit," Spikes manager Gary Robinson said. "The fifth run was big at that point and they were not going to let him hit a home run."
When the lights were finally turned out on Medlar Field, Baker's line in the boxscore read 1-for-3 with two strikeouts, a triple and a RBI.
But that one hit left a big impression on his manager.
"He's a strong boy," Robinson said. "He's a good kid, he listens; he's got a good future."
