Great Falls White Sox Slugger

[elrockinMT]

Monday, June 16, 2003

 

White Sox turn on the power at Legion Park

By GEORGE GEISE

Tribune Sports Editor

 

 

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It might be a little early to call No. 5 a "home run King," but the sweet-swinging southpaw made a good first impression.

Clinton King of the Great Falls White Sox won a home-run hitting contest Sunday afternoon at Legion Park, then went out and hammered another dinger in a 14-0 exhibition romp against a team of local Legion athletes from the Stallions and Electrics.

 

It was the first professional appearance for King, a third-round draft choice earlier this month out of Southern Mississippi, where he tied the school record with 23 homers this spring.

 

"That felt OK," said King, a solid 5-foot-11 and 205 pounds. "I got into a good groove about halfway through the (HR contest), and it stayed with me."

 

King blasted four pitches out of the park in 10 swings as the White Sox outhomered the Legion kids 13-3 in a power contest that began at 2. Teammate Brandon Bounds also hit three homers, and Chris Kelly and Seth Morris clouted two apiece.

 

Josh Talley of the Stallions slugged two homers for the Legion guys, and Electric Jake Wingerter got the other one.

 

About an hour later in the exhibition game, King went 3-for-4 with five runs batted in. His second-inning homer off Danny Williams was a towering blast that soared way over the wall in right field.

 

"I got a slow curve, low and inside," said King. "I got good wood on it and kind of golfed it."

 

The White Sox out-hit the Legion players 17-3 and scored in four of their six trips to the plate. The only Legion pitchers to enjoy any success were Randy Rust of the Stallions and Wingerter. Rust shut down the White Sox 1-2-3 in the fourth inning, and he struck out Bounds -- the lone punchout for the White Sox.

 

"I was real nervous," admitted Rust, who suited up for the exhibition game against the Great Falls Dodgers a year ago, but didn't get into the game. "Those guys can really swing the bat."

 

Ironically, Rust took the loss Saturday in Missoula when the Stallions lost 15-9 to the Mavericks. "I only lasted a third of an inning. They hit me pretty good," said Rust.

 

Stallions manager George Febach couldn't use either of his top pitchers, Ronnie Morales or Ray Cook, because they pitched in Missoula.

 

"Rust kept the ball down," said Febach. "That's what all the guys have to do, no matter how well they throw. You can see what the White Sox can do when you get the ball up. I think they'll be a fun team to watch."

 

White Sox manager Chris Cron was delighted by the chance to play a practice game, which was watched by about 750 fans on a warm, sunny afternoon. It gave the players a chance to see live pitching, and it gave the baseball club a chance to get some game-management issues handled before Tuesday night's Pioneer League opener against the Billings Mustangs.

 

Legion Park has undergone a big remodeling project over the winter and spring, and the entire leftfield grandstand area has been replaced. The park still has a few rough spots, but the White Sox expect no problems handling a big crowd Tuesday night.

 

"This was a very good experience for us," said Cron. "You benefit any time you can play a real game, no doubt about it.

 

"There's no substitute for live pitching, no matter what kind of pitching you see. Everybody got an at-bat and we banged the ball around pretty well."

 

The White Sox expect to get at least one more athlete today, although No. 1 draft choice xxxx Anderson still hasn't signed.

 

The Great Falls Baseball Club, Inc., has its annual meet-the-players banquet tonight at the Holiday Inn, with a social at 6 and dinner to follow. Tickets are $15 apiece and fans can call 452-5311 to reserve seats for the banquet.

[Chisoxfn]

That seems to hint that Anderson will be signing today.

 

We'll see though. A nice article. King has a ton of power potential and from what you read there it sounds like his power will be able to carry over with wood bats, but we'll have to wait and see what he does.