WAIS baseballer Luke Hughes has been recognised for his superb recent performances for the New Britain Rock Cats by being awarded the Eastern League Player of the Month for the month of April.
Hughes enjoyed a stellar month, batting .354 (35-for-99) with six doubles, one triple, eight home runs, 20 runs scored, 18 RBI, 14 walks and three stolen bases in 24 games during the month of April. The 23-year old had a hit in all but four of the games that he played in during the month, including 11 multiple hit games and one multiple home run game on April 23.
Hughes is currently topping the figures in almost every offensive category, including batting average (.385), home runs (9), hits (47), on-base percentage (.449), extra-base hits (18) and runs scored (29) and he is also ranked second among all of the players in Minor League Baseball in total bases this season, with 85.
Hughes also picked up the Bank of America Eastern League Player of the Week for the week ending April 27.
Hughes hasn’t let his success breed complacency either, with an equally impressive start to May. Currently his stats for the month include a hitting record of .522 with one double, one triple, one home run and nine runs scored in five games. He currently has a 14-game hitting streak, which is tied for the longest streak in the Eastern League this season. Eight of the 14 games have been multiple hit games and Hughes is hitting .431 with seven homers, 20 runs scored and 15 RBI during the streak.
In other baseball news: WAIS Pitcher Nathan Driessen pitched five 2/3 innings to help WA beat NSW 5-0 in the Grand Final of the National Schoolboys Championships.
Driessenwas named MVP for the Grand Final game for his dominant pitching performance. Driessen wasalso named Golden Arm for the tournament after throwing 11 2/3 innings. Driessen only gave up 9 hits, 2 runs (zero earned), racked up 18 strike-outs with only 2 walks and to top things off Driessen wasnamed in the Australian team for his efforts asthe most outstandingLeft Handed pitcher.
