“Beach balls.” These two words describe how senior outfielder Dylan Wright has been seeing the ball this season.
In his fourth year with the Pacific University baseball team, Wright was recently named Northwest Conference Position Player Student-Athlete of the Week for a second-straight week and was named Boxer Club Athlete of the Month for February.
When you talk to Wright about his season, he remains extremely humble, crediting others like hitting coach Scott Dalrymple, for helping him find his success.
“He really helps with approaches and swing mechanics,” Wright said. “He does a great job getting people to figure out their swing and what they’re good at so he has been a big help this year.”
Although Wright stays humble even when talking about the accolades he has received this season, his stats are worth boasting over. Wright leads the Boxers in hits (27), Run’s Batted In (18) and stolen bases (9) this season. He is also ranked third, fourth and second in the Northwest Conference for those categories. Wright also leads the team in batting average (.365) for players with more than 10 at bats.
“I’m seeing the ball well,” Wright said. “You really got to hunt the fastball. Pitchers really want to get ahead with the fastball so if they are gonna give it to you, you might as well take it. I have been swinging really early in the counts and getting really good pitches to hit.”
Along with Wright’s humble approach, he puts a focus on not riding the highs and keeping his expectations within reach.
“You set expectations for yourself and once they get too high, it’s unrealistic,” Wright said. “Staying on earth and just trying to not do too much. I really don’t care about my performance as long as the team is doing well.”
Another reason Wright has found success due to his preparation. Wright has made sure he studies the scouting reports before games so that he is prepared for every pitcher he faces.
“Approaches change pitcher to pitcher,” Wright said. “Some pitchers start early with curveballs and offspeed pitches. We usually have a good scouting report on their tendencies, which helps my hitting coach and I have a good plan of attack for each pitcher.”
So far this season, Wright has been able to stay consistent with his timing and as long as he keeps that up, he looks forward to seeing “beach balls” all season.
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