Franklin Labour is turning heads in Salem-Keizer.

The Salem-Keizer Volcanoes are thrilled to see yet another player being honored with an NWL Player of the Week Honor, this time it's right fielderFranklin Labour , who is the second consecutive Volcanoes hitter to be honored after Ricardo Genoves won the Award last week. Since July 1st, Labour has had a .433 batting average (13-30) with 10 runs, 6 home runs, 10 RBI, 3 doubles, a triple, 2 walks, 8 strikeouts and was hit twice. "I'm just trying to have fun," Labour said, "[I am] trying to get my pitch because when you miss your pitch, that's when the pitcher takes advantage of you." Volcanoes' pitcher Jacob Lopez won the other Player of the Week Award for the week June 17-23.

Labour's memorable week began when the Volcanoes played a three-game series on the road against the Spokane Indians. In those three games, he had 5 home runs and 6 runs batted in to help the Volcanoes sweep the Indians. When he played at home for the series against Vancouver, he still rose to the occasion at the plate with his sixth homer of the week on the final game of that three-game series, as well as 2 doubles, a triple, 3 runs, 4 RBIs, as well as getting hit twice. "He's been very impressive at the plate", Salem-Keizer manager Mark Hallberg said. "He's shown some patience at the plate, finding the pitches he wants and giving him all he has with every swing and so far he's making a lot more contact."
As of July 8th, Franklin has a .341 batting average (3rd in NWL), 25 runs (leads NWL), 31 hits (tied for NWL lead with teammate Sean Roby), 11 home runs (also leads NWL), 4 doubles, 2 triples (T-2nd), 11 home runs (1st in NWL), 25 runs batted in (1st in NWL), 72 total bases (1st in NWL), 10 walks and 25 strikeouts in the 2019 season, making it clear that Labour is grabbing the attention of multiple people throughout the community and the League.
Of interest, Franklin's host family is none other than the city of Keizer Mayor Cathy Clark. "[He is very] nice and polite and helps out around the house," Clark said. "What really helps out is that because he's bilingual, he could communicate very well with not only his teammates but also with us after the game ended." "It was getting pretty exciting when he hit those first few home runs", Clark said. "My family and I were telling each other 'this is pretty cool' but when he heard over the radio that he's hitting more, we started telling each other 'okay, this is getting interesting.'
The Volcanoes are currently in 1st Place in the Northwest League's Southern Division. The team returns to Volcanoes to open a 4-game homestand versus the Eugene Emeralds this Wednesday, July 10th. The homestand is highlighted by the Volcanoes' annual Cancer Awareness Weekend July 11-13 and features Special Guest, Major League Baseball Legend Steve Garvey (himself a cancer survivor). Garvey will appear at Saturday's game (July 13th) - meet and greet fans and sign Free Autographs. Tickets are available by calling 503.390.2225 or at www.volcanoesbaseball.com