Friday, August 15, 1997

McClure still in hunt for batting title

By MARK WILSON / Abilene Reporter-News

Don't count Abilene's Jason McClure out of the race for the Texas-Louisiana League batting title.

McClure entered Thursday night's game against Lubbock in third place in the league with a .382 average. Just ahead of him is Bryan Warner of Rio Grande Valley, at .389.

At least we know that the league leader, Amarillo's Jorge Alvarez, isn't going to improve on his .393 average. He won't drop any, either, since he returned home to the Dominican Republic to attend to personal matters and isn't likely to return this season.

McClure, who had been flirting with the .400 mark for most of the season, said he isn't seeing the same types of pitches he was earlier in the season.

"They're not throwing me anything close to the zone," McClure said. "If they are, it's really picky. They throw me a lot outside right now.

"They're a lot more selective. They're not afraid to walk me anymore."

McClure said he's also experiencing the "at-'em ball" syndrome lately.

"I'm (hitting) a lot of balls right at people," said McClure, who has 91 hits in 238 at-bats, compared to Warner's 116 hits in 298 at-bats. "I'm hitting the ball solid, but to people."

He found himself changing his approach at the plate, and a couple of teammates advised him to get back to his old swing.

"I got a little aggressive, and I started to do some thing a little different and I started to strike out a lot," McClure said.

McClure said it has been difficult seeing his shot at hitting .400 shrink, but he believes he can snap out of his recent slump, make the batting race tight - and maybe even get back to .400.

"It's still a very good possibility I can," McClure said. "If I have a couple of multi-hit games, anything's possible.

"I would absolutely love to pass Alvarez. It's fair for him (to be elgible for the title), but for the guys that have to continute to play it's not that fair.

"I'm going to come out of it again, and it's going to be an interesting race."

T-shirt night

Tonight's promotion at Crutcher Scott Field - for the first 1,000 adults - will be a free Abilene Prairie Dog logo T-shirt. The promotion is sponsored by Little Caesar's Pizza, KRBC-TV and KEAN-FM.

Probable starters

The likely starters listed for tonight's game - the second in a three-game set at Scott Field against the Lubbock Crickets - are Troy Dean Conkle (6-3, 6.86 earned run average) for Abilene and Jamie Escamilla (0-4, 7.40 ERA) for Lubbock.

Royal Thomas had been scheduled to start Saturday against the Crickets, but will be replaced by Jamie Glore (0-1, 1.54 ERA). Thomas will miss the start because he suffered a minor knee injury during a play at the plate during his last appearance, on Monday.

The Prairie Dogs will play their final three home games of the season Aug. 17-19 against Rio Grande Valley.