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Baseball: Alexander's Pride career off to torrid start
Comments 0 | Recommend 0The head of the bat forcefully hit the ground, sending dirt scattering nearby.
Mountain Pointe's Josh Alexander began his walk back to the dugout, the victim of a strikeout on a 3-2 count.
"I kind of hit a little rough spot here," he'd say after the game.
Rough spot? Yeah, sure.
Alexander had finished the game - an 11-6 Pride win over McClintock last week - 1-for-4. But what the junior was seemingly overlooking were his three RBIs, two of which came on a game-tying double in the fifth inning.
"In his mind, he didn't have a good day, just because he's a little bit out on his front foot," said MP coach Brandon Buck. "That's good to know, when we have a guy that's still producing like that, but he knows he's not swinging it as well as he could. That means he's just going to keep working that much harder."
Perhaps the frustration lay in the fact that Alexander's torrid start to his Mountain Pointe career had raised his personal bar that much higher.
Alexander transferred to MP last semester after starting on Basha's varsity squad last season. "Great addition to the club," Buck said.
He made a quick impression, winning the current players' side of the team's annual alumni home run derby in December - which set him up to go toe-to-toe with Pride great Joe Mather.
"It's really easy," Alexander said of the transition. "They all made it really easy for me. They just provide a good little home for me."
Alexander's been doing his part, too.
In helping the Pride win the Scottsdale Invitational earlier this month, he went 12-for-17 with two home runs, a triple and a double.
"Not a bad tournament for me," he said. "It's a great way to start the season."
As for the win over McClintock?
His shoulders shrug slightly.
"1-for-4, three RBIs - I'll take it," he said. "But I definitely want to get back to where I was at the beginning of the season.
"It's good to know that I can always go back to being where I was before, even though I hit this rough spot."
Alexander's also notched two saves in relief early in the season, wins over Horizon and Queen Creek.
"It's not my main spot," Alexander said, "but I definitely like to get out there and throw a little bit."
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