by Barca Blog - You might say Jonathan White likes pressure baseball. For the second consecutive year, the fifth-year senior has turned it up a notch in the closing weeks of the season.White has been playing so well of late that head coach Tim Corbin moved him into the second spot of the lineup for Vanderbilt's critical SEC Tournament opener against LSU last night. He hadn't hit higher than seventh all year.
The Shelbyville, Tenn., native responded to the challenge by going 2-for-4 with a double, a run, and a walk. He also displayed some extra pop in his bat, just missing two homers in the pitcher-friendly Regions Park.
"I wasn’t surprised (of my lineup placement)," White admitted after the 'Dores handled the No. 2 Tigers, 4-1. "The coaches feel I’m hot right now and I just want to help the team in any way that I can. So if putting me up there and shaking things up motivates the team and gets things started, then I’m all about it."
White entered May only hitting .213 and was struggling so much that he didn't even play in the series sweep of Mississippi State to end April. He's been on a tear since, though, hitting .293 (12-for-41) in his last 10 games with five RBI, four runs, three doubles, one home run, and two stolen bases.
In 2008, White also finished the year red hot, going 9-for-18 (.500) with five runs and two RBI in seven postseason games.
"I started off the beginning of this season kind of slow," White added. "I battled through some adversity when I was coming in and out of the lineup. I just kept trying to work through it. I know I’ve been playing this game a long time and success comes after work. I wasn’t going to be down on myself because you never know when coach is going to call your name.
"I have confidence right now. I always finish strong after a slow start. I feel like I’m peeking at the right time."
(Photo by Jimmy Jones)
White entered May only hitting .213 and was struggling so much that he didn't even play in the series sweep of Mississippi State to end April. He's been on a tear since, though, hitting .293 (12-for-41) in his last 10 games with five RBI, four runs, three doubles, one home run, and two stolen bases.
In 2008, White also finished the year red hot, going 9-for-18 (.500) with five runs and two RBI in seven postseason games.
"I started off the beginning of this season kind of slow," White added. "I battled through some adversity when I was coming in and out of the lineup. I just kept trying to work through it. I know I’ve been playing this game a long time and success comes after work. I wasn’t going to be down on myself because you never know when coach is going to call your name.
"I have confidence right now. I always finish strong after a slow start. I feel like I’m peeking at the right time."
(Photo by Jimmy Jones)
nice work as always,BBarca
ReplyDeleteI'm very proud of what White has done as a Commodore. I grew up in Shelbyville as a Commodore fan and actually I think Jonathan was on a tee-ball team I coached that also wore the black and gold (Pirates).
ReplyDeleteGo Dores!
Maybe Jonathan just likes hot weather and baseball. 3 for 4 last night gets him to .333 in the last 11 games.
ReplyDeleteWe are4 proud of Nashville's own, Brian Harris!
ReplyDelete