Bader goes yard twice in pro debut

With only one pro at-bat under his belt, Harrison Bader had already learned from his experience.

The third-round pick of St. Louis homered twice in his pro debut, going 2-for-4 with three RBIs in Class A Short Season State College's 5-3 loss at Staten Island. He's the second Spikes player to homer twice in a New York-Penn League debut -- Rowan Wick did it on June 13 last year.

Bader was called out on strikes his first time up, but with one out in the third inning, he got another chance against Yankees southpaw Derek Callahan.

"My first at-bat, I struck out. He came in late with an inside fastball, so moving into my next at-bat, I was looking for an inside fastball," said the University of Florida product. "I got beat on it before and I tip my hat to him, but if I go down again, I'm not going to go down on an inside fastball."

That's exactly the pitch Callahan offered up when Bader came to the plate in their second meeting. It ended up over the fence in left field.

"I saw the pitch that I wanted and put a good swing on it and the rest took care of itself," the 21-year-old outfielder said. "Obviously, you want to get the first hit over with. I would have just as easily taken a swinging bunt to the third baseman. That would have been just as great, so I'm glad it worked out. Just putting up a good at-bat is the most important thing."

When Callahan tried something new against Bader with a runner on and two outs in the fifth, Bader also made an adjustment and knocked the second pitch of the at-bat out of the yard in left-center.

"My third at-bat, he started me off with a changeup, and I kind of sold out that he was going to double up on changeups," said the native of Bronxville, New York. "The result happened because of the approach. The biggest thing adjusting from college to the pros is trusting in yourself and trusting in your approach and going from there."

Bader, who hit .348 with two homers, two doubles and five RBIs over five games for the Gators in the College World Series, hit a fly ball to center in his final at-bat of the day.

"The last time I played in a real game was last Sunday, so it's been a week and a day or so since I've played outside with live pitching," he said. "My approach was just to see it as well as I could and do everything in my power to help the team out, whether that was moving the runner over or whatever. The homers are nice and everything, but I wasn't trying to hit them. I was trying to have good at-bats, and it worked out for me.

"Two home runs in a game doesn't happen often, especially for me. You have to kind of enjoy the moment, but the most important part is it's a very long summer. There are going to be days like this and there are going to be days when I have rough patches. I just want to put together good at-bats whether I'm getting results or not."

Josh Swichark, a Wilmington University standout who signed with the Cardinals as a free agent, logged his first pro hit in his second game. He was 1-for-3 with a walk.

Jake Hernandez was 3-for-4 with a run scored for the Yankees.

Callahan, a 22-year-old picked by New York out of Gonzaga in the 16th round of last year, improved to 2-0, giving up three runs on five hits and a walk while striking out four.