RockHounds' Zeringue hits for cycle

When Jon Zeringue hit for the cycle on Friday night, it marked the culmination of a year's worth of frustration, hard work and a newfound satisfaction.

Released by the Arizona Diamondbacks last season, Zeringue became the second Minor Leaguer to hit for the cycle this season as the Midland RockHounds dropped a 9-7 decision to the Corpus Christi Hooks.

The 25-year-old right fielder said the cycle was one of the finest moments of his baseball career.

"It was an awesome feeling, it's the first time I've ever done it," said Zeringue, who went 4-for-5 to raise his average 26 points to .327. "It ranked up there with my greatest accomplishments in baseball, but unfortunately, it was tainted by a loss. It's still an amazing feeling."

Zeringue singled in the bottom of the ninth inning to complete the cycle in an at-bat that, if the RockHounds had their way, never would have happened. Leading, 7-4, in the seventh, Midland surrendered five runs over the final two innings.

Zeringue had a little bit more invested in the potential rally.

"After the triple, I knew had a shot [at the cycle]," he said. "I knew I had the triple, but I forgot all about the double, actually. I was standing on third and the third baseman [Chris Johnson] said, 'Hey you've got to pull up at first next time.' That's when I realized it."

And, following that order from the enemy, Zeringue delivered a one-out single in the ninth to secure his place in baseball history. It was the first cycle in the Texas League since San Antonio's Will Venable accomplished the feat on May 30, 2007 against Springfield. It was the first cycle by a Midland player since Brant Colamarino did it on June 4, 2006.

Zeringue, the Diamondbacks' second round pick in 2004, doubled leading off the second, homered in the fourth and tripled and scored in the sixth. It was his first three-base hit since Aug. 23, 2006.

"I just hit it between the third baseman and shortstop, I had a guy in front of me, so it was a normal single," he said of the ninth-inning base hit. "I'd hit off [Samuel Gervacio] before, I knew he was coming all sliders on me. The first pitch, I took it for a strike, but the second pitch he hung and I got it through the infield."

The clutch hit was the reward for months of work. Zeringue, out of baseball for nearly a month last summer, said his rebirth with the Oakland organization has changed everything. Once a free swinger, a "hacker" as he termed it, Zeringue said his second chance with the Athletics has turned around his career.

"The last few years, I would swing at the first pitch all the time," said Zeringue, a .264 hitter over his first four seasons . "I'm more comfortable working counts now, I worked on that in Spring Training. I'm not afraid to hit with two strikes and I'm not afraid to take pitches and take a pitch for the first strike.

"It used to be, if I saw anything in the strike zone, I swung, and it was the wrong plan to take."

That newfound patience has paid off. Zeringue admitted that, after months of working his way back to the Minors, the cycle was extra sweet. Being released by Arizona has turned out to be one of his best career moves.

The Louisiana native was hitting .143 for Double-A Mobile when he was cut last season. He resurfaced with an independent league club in South Georgia and hit .333 in 26 games. Noticed by Oakland, Zeringue returned to the Minors and collected 13 homers and 42 RBIs in 56 games for Class A Advanced Stockton.

"It's something I needed, I was frustrated," he said. "I took off a couple weeks, cleared my mind. This is definitely a boost of confidence. Oakland signed me and I worked my way back to High A, I had a great year. Afterwards, I was nervous, but they ended up re-signing me. It's been wonderful."

Since then, Zeringue said his mental approach has improved dramatically, thanks to the Athletics' guidance.

"I've been comfortable at the plate, it's a whole different approach than I used to have. The A's are big on approach, and that's the first time I'd heard about that," he said. "Something clicked with the mental aspect, going up to bat with a plan. I'd never had a plan at the plate before."

Zeringue's single brought the potential go-ahead run to the plate for Midland, but the RockHounds fell short. Afterwards, he said it was a bit strange to be celebrating, at least personally, after a loss.

"It was a kind of weird feeling in the locker room -- we lost, it [stunk]," he said. "But I got a lot of handshakes. Our hitting coordinator congratulated me, handed me the ball, so that was really special. He told me to keep it up."

Tommy Everidge went 2-for-3 with a solo homer for Midland (16-12), while former sixth-round pick Andrew Bailey struck out six and allowed three runs on six hits over six innings. Justin Dowdy (0-1) suffered the loss after giving up two runs in the ninth.

Gervacio (1-1) hurled two scoreless frames for the win for the Hooks. Chris Johnson and Eli Iorg each homered and plated two runs for Corpus Christi (16-12).