As the ball hit off the top of the wall in deep centerfield and the umpire motioned for a grand slam, Spikes designated hitter Kyle Morgan received loud applause from the crowd at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park.
For the power-hitting Morgan, rounding all the bases became a familiar sight in Sunday night's game.
With the bases loaded and the State College Spikes down 2-0, Morgan's grand slam gave the Spikes (13-11) a lead they wouldn't relinquish. Fortunately for the Spikes, the grand slam was just the beginning of Morgan's offensive dominance. With a second homer from Morgan in the sixth inning, this time into the right field bleachers, the Spikes were able to post eight hits en route to a 7-2 routing of the Jamestown Jammers (9-15).
Morgan described his performance as "his best game in professional baseball" but said it wasn't the first time in his career he's hit multiple homeruns. The slugger pointed to a game in junior college when he hit three homeruns, but said he believes it's a personal high for RBIs.
The slugger said he's always had power, but has been working on his approach at the plate. He said the difference between Sunday night's performance and his previous games was just simplifying everything.
"Just slowing down the game, seeing the ball and hitting the ball," Morgan said in reference to his adjustments. "Not worried about how my swing feels, how my load is, if I'm pulling off balls. It's simply slow down, see ball, hit ball."
Morgan was able to drive the balls to different parts of the ballpark and was quick to point out the differences in his two homers.
The first one Morgan said he knew he hit well and just hoped it would get high enough to carry out of the park. With the wind not helping him much, Morgan was able to get just enough of the ball to become the third player in Spikes history to hit a grand slam at home.
The second shot came as a bit of a surprise to Morgan as he hit it off the end of the bat. Morgan said he just took advantage of a curve ball that Wilson Matos left up in the zone and said he was expecting it to hit off the top of the wall.
Morgan's night won't soon be forgotten as his 6 RBIs in a game is a new team record. He now leads the team with 15 RBIs and his three homeruns ties him for second most in the New York-Penn League.
"He has good power," manager Gary Robinson said. "The first ball he got every bit of. The second one just shows you how strong he is. He didn't hit much of that and at the time the wind didn't help him very much, but he's just a strong guy who is working everyday."
