Bates Hopes the Switch Will Do Him Good
Jason Bates tried to become a switch-hitter last season, but the experiment was short-lived.
Bates, a sophomore shortstop at Cypress College, tried it during the Chargers’ early-season games, but he struggled. So when Orange Empire Conference play began, he went back to his natural right-handed stance.
This season, however, he has stuck with his plan despite some minor struggles.
“I didn’t start getting serious about it until last fall,” Bates said. “Before that, I got frustrated so I stopped.”
Last season, Bates hit .272 with four home runs and 18 RBIs mostly as the Chargers’ leadoff hitter.
He had an on-base percentage of .474, walked 34 times and was hit 10 times.
Once fall practice started, Bates made a couple of commitments: one was to become a switch-hitter and the other was to the University of Arizona. Bates signed with the Wildcats during the early period in November.
“I know it (switch-hitting) will help me down the line,” Bates said. “It was just a matter of me getting my confidence and feeling 100% each time I’m at the plate.”
Bates’ decision has worked better than either he or Coach Scott Pickler could have hoped.
He is hitting .379, with four home runs and 26 RBIs in 33 games. Bates has 35 walks this season to give him a Cypress career-record 69.
Bates needs three more walks to break the school’s single-season record of 37 set by Ken Briggs in 1988.
He leads the Chargers with a .542 on-base percentage.
“He battles up there each time,” Pickler said. “He’s very selective. The one thing that has helped a great deal is he has become stronger. He has worked hard in the off-season and it shows.”
Bates even playing this season was in danger for a moment last summer.
One day in late June, Bates was surfing off Huntington Beach. He got tumbled up in a wave and his board’s fin cut into the back of his thigh.
A lifeguard put a bandage on Bates’ leg and he and a friend headed home. Bates didn’t think the injury was too serious. In fact, on their way, they stopped at a fast-food place for a snack.
Bates later showed his leg to his mother, who took him to the family’s doctor. Nearly 40 stitches were needed to close the wound.
“It felt like a knife went in my leg,” Bates said. “My mother couldn’t believe we would stop at McDonald’s with me bleeding all over the back seat.”
Bates was on crutches for about a month and missed the remainder of the Metropolitan League summer games. He was fortunate the fin didn’t cut into a muscle, which would have caused more damage.
“I told the lifeguard that I was a baseball player,” Bates said. “And I wanted to know if it (the wound) was going to hurt my career.”
Not so far.
The Orange Coast men’s volleyball team already has locked up a playoff berth, but Golden West’s needs help to advance to the Southern California regionals.
Long Beach leads the South Coast Conference at 13-1. Orange Coast (11-3) is second, Palomar (10-4) third and Golden West (8-6) fourth. Only the top three teams advance to the playoffs.
Golden West could gain a spot only by beating Palomar Wednesday and Grossmont Friday, and OCC beats Palomar Friday. Orange Coast is at Long Beach Wednesday.
The winner of the South Coast Conference and the winner of the Western State Conference receive automatic bids into the state tournament May 3-4 at Los Angeles Pierce.
The top team from Northern California also will receive automatic entry into the tournament. The fourth team will come from the regional playoffs between the second and third-place teams from the South Coast and the Western State conferences.
Community College Notes
Orange Coast’s Corey Parker is 21 for 39 in his past 10 games with 19 RBIs. Parker, who is hitting. 429 for the year, has nine doubles and three home runs over that same span. Parker’s teammate, Mike Burns, was 10 for 13 last week to raise his average to .443 for the season.