After dropping to the bottom half of Clever’s batting order, Hayden Camp could be in line to reclaim his spot among the top three hitters in the Jays’ lineup.
Camp banged out three hits Thursday to lead Clever past Spokane 11-3, upping the Jays’ winning streak to eight games.
Clever is off to a 14-1 start in former Ozark assistant Brandon Cobb’s first season coaching the Jays, despite Camp not being his usual productive self. The senior outfielder batted .473 as a sophomore and 429 as a junior, but didn’t pick up this season where he left off last year.
“I've been in a little bit of a slump. But I'm finally coming around,” said Camp, who hit .692 through the end of March last season. “I’m squaring up the baseball and hitting it hard. I'm getting back into it.
“(Cobb) moved me to six-hole and I’m at the five-hole now,” he added. “Hopefully, he will move me back toward the front because I'm getting hot again.”
Cobb was among five Clever batters who enjoyed a multi-hit game against Spokane. Owls pitcher J.D. Tate offered the Jays a slower speed on his pitches than they’re accustomed to.
“I tried to scoot up in the box, but I don't really change my approach,” Camp said of hitting slower pitching. “I sit back and let (the pitch) get deep, just like against another other pitcher. I sit back and wait. I don't rush myself.”
Landon Flood, Trevor Deulen, Owen Hall and Carter Wenger all had two hits.
“You expect him to be throwing a lot harder,” Hall of the 6-foot-8 Tate. “You just try to sit back, wait and drive the pitch the other way.”
Deulen was the winning pitcher.
Clever has already exceeded its win total of 13 from last season. The Jays eight-game win streak is their longest stretch of success since they also won eight in a row in 2018.
