Keys' Schoop continues hot hitting

Despite struggling a bit upon his promotion to Class A Advanced Frederick, Jonathan Schoop was confident he was swinging the bat well. Over the past two weeks, the results have certainly backed up his belief.

The Orioles' No. 7 prospect went 3-for-5 with a double and two RBIs on Saturday, bringing his August batting average up to .392, as the Keys beat the Winston-Salem Dash, 6-1.

Over his last two games, Schoop is 7-for-10 with three extra-base hits and six RBIs.

"I think everything is going my way," he said. "I just want to hit the ball and win. Everything's going good. I'm swinging the bat good, getting good pitches, laying off tough pitches. Get a good pitch and get a good swing."

Signed as a non-drafted free agent in 2008, Schoop hit .316 with eight homers and 34 RBIs in 51 games for Class A Delmarva before moving up to Frederick. He batted .232 with six extra-base hits in his first 44 games with the Keys but has heated up in August.

The 19-year-old infielder has 20 hits -- 10 for extra bases -- while posting a 1.082 OPS in 51 at-bats this month. Over his last eight games, he has registered six multi-hit efforts.

"When I came up, sometimes the ball didn't want to fall in," Schoop said. "Just keep swinging the bat. Just keep swinging and the ball's gonna fall someday. Now it's started falling."

On Saturday, the native of Curacao singled in his first two at-bats before smacking an RBI double in the eighth. Asked if he can keep up his torrid pace for the rest of the season, Schoop minced no words.

"Yeah, for sure," he said.

With the win, the Keys improved to 71-46 and ensured they will finish over .500 for the second consecutive year. The last time Frederick recorded back-to-back winning seasons was 1993-94.