Wik cycles his way into JetHawks history

Marc Wik joined an exclusive club on Tuesday night, and the Astros third base prospect couldn't be happier about having earned his membership.

"It's kind of indescribable," Wik said after hitting for the cycle. 

"It's something only a few people get to do and there are very few opportunities to do it."

The 22-year-old infielder singled in the second inning, homered in the third, tripled in the sixth and doubled in eighth, going 4-for-4 with three runs scored in Class A Advanced Lancaster's 9-8 loss at High Desert.

Wik is the first JetHawk to hit for the cycle since Dan Gulbransen did it last June 5 and the second California Leaguer to do it this season.

His third-inning solo shot off Mavericks reliever Ryne Slack was Wik's first roundtripper of the year.

"I was trying to be as simple as possible in the box, just looking for a good pitch to hit," he said. "It was a full count and I knew he didn't want to walk me, so he was going to challenge me. Actually, I thought I'd popped out, but sure enough, it snuck over."

As soon as the left-handed hitter tripled on an opposite-field ground ball three innings later, he had the cycle on his mind.

"Actually, I looked over at our third base coach [Ramon Vazquez]," he said, "and I smiled and told him, 'I only need a double.'"

The 22-year-old native of Fremont, California, got one in his final trip to the plate, pulling an offering from Pat Kaminska down the right-field line.

"Once it passed the first baseman, I knew I was going to get there, no matter what, or at least I was going to try. But I got it to a good spot and got a standup double," Wik said. When the play was over, "I had a big grin on my face. I felt [a sense of] accomplishment."

As for Vazquez, "He was kind of in shock."

Lancaster had taken the previous three games of the series at Heritage Field, with Derek Fisher breaking a league record with a 12-RBI debut on Saturday and the JetHawks tying another league record with eight homers as a team on Sunday.

"This is a great group of guys and we have a great coaching staff, great everything," Wik said "It would have been nice to come out with a 'W' to sweep, but that's baseball."

A.J. Reed, the Astros' No. 12 prospect, also had a big night for the JetHawks, going 3-for-5 with a homer and three RBIs.

Luis Marte was 3-for-5 with a double, an RBI and two runs scored for the Mavericks. He delivered an RBI single as High Desert scored three times in the ninth to avoid the sweep.