New father De Jong cycles out of slump

Scott De Jong broke out of the worst slump of his career in perhaps the best way possible.

The Dodgers first base prospect hit for the cycle and drove in three runs Saturday night to propel Rookie-level Ogden to a 12-5 win over Great Falls at Centene Stadium at Legion Park.

"For me, it was great. I came into the game struggling a little bit and to break out with a double in my first at-bat feels good and then the home run comes and then I end up hitting for the cycle -- there's no better way to break out of a little slump, so it's real exciting," he said. "It's one of those things that you always want to do in your career, and being able to do it tonight, especially with a win for our squad, was a great thing. I'm at a loss for words, it's really awesome."

Mired in a 2-for-15 funk, De Jong left to the team to go to California and be with his girlfriend, Haylee Williams, as she gave birth to their first child. Mila Rose was born on July 1 and by Tuesday, De Jong was back with the Raptors.

While he returned to action, his bat seemed to still be on leave, as the 22-year-old went 0-for-12 in his next three games. The New Jersey native said being away from his daughter was difficult, but he doesn't think it affected him at the plate. De Jong instead cites a problem in his stance -- he needed to raise his hands a little -- as the cause for the rut.

The change paid immediate dividends as De Jong slapped a double to right-center field in his first at-bat, then slugged his third homer, going back-to-back with Nick Sell in the fourth inning.

"I squared it off, hit it real solid, and that's a great feeling, especially breaking out," De Jong said. "A nice line drive, right through the right-center field gap, so there's no better way I could've wanted my day to start. Going back-to-back's awesome. Me and Nick have a little camaraderie because we both played Division II baseball and there's not as many of us as there is of Division I guys, so it's a real cool feeling."

De Jong kept rolling in the sixth, delivering an RBI single to right that left him a triple shy of the cycle. Once he was on base, the Felician College product stole his first base of the season, took third on a throwing error by catcher Casey Shroeder and scored on Nick Dean's single. 

"I knew [about the cycle] the whole time, coming into my last at-bat. The triple is always the hardest one to get to a cycle," said De Jong, a 2014 32nd-round Draft pick. "I'm not one that is fleet of foot, so I was joking around with the umpire before my last at-bat that the only way I was going to be able to get a triple was if I hit a line drive over the center fielder's head."

That's exactly what De Jong did, racing to third for his first career triple.

"Once I saw the ball get over [Antonio Rodriguez's] head, I knew I had a triple," he said. "I knew I had to definitely hustle it out, but I knew I had a triple. I've never [cycled] before, so it was a great feeling and an awesome experience."

De Jong was congratulated at third by Raptors manager John Shoemaker, who reminded his No. 8 hitter to hold on to the memory. After Chris Godinez drove him in with a bases-loaded walk, De Jong was welcomed with high fives in the dugout.

It was the first cycle by a Raptor since Tae-Hyeok Nam on July 24, 2012 against Helena.

The 22-year-old's first career four-hit game came in support of starter Tommy Bergjans (2-0). The eighth-round pick in last month's Draft allowed three unearned runs on two hits and a walk while striking out two in five innings.