Hawks' Hampson hits first two homers

Even though he doesn't consider himself a power hitter, Garrett Hampson sure looked the part on Friday night.

The Rockies' No. 26 prospect swatted his first two homers as a pro to power Class A Short Season Boise to a 2-1 victory over Everett at Memorial Stadium. 

"It feels pretty good to get the monkey off the back a little bit," the 21-year-old said. "I'm not a power hitter when it comes down to it, so I don't really worry about home runs, but it still feels good to contribute to a win."

After falling behind against Everett starter Danny Garcia in the first inning, Hampson put the Hawks on the board with a solo shot to left field. 

"He got two strikes on me and then kind of left the slider up in the zone and it broke into my bat path and the rest is history," Hampson said. "I'm not really trying to hit home runs up there and I don't think anybody really should be; I'm just trying to put together quality at-bats. If I put together a quality at-bat, it doesn't matter if the ball goes over the fence or I just get on base for the team."

Hampson took Garcia deep for another solo blast in the sixth, hammering a 0-1 pitch over the left field fence to snap a 1-1 deadlock.

"I was talking to the guys because it was the same pitch, same swing, and I hit it to the same part of the yard," the Long Beach State product said. "He made two mistake pitches and left them up and I put two good swings on them."

After being selected in the third round of this year's Draft, Hampson made his pro debut on June 20. He's slashing .293/.398/.427 with 39 RBIs and 40 runs scored in 65 Northwest League games. 

"Everybody at this time of the year, especially some of the college guys who have played 60 or so college games and then came here right away to play 60 more, are feeling it," Hampson said. "I'm mentally and physically tired, just like everybody else in this league, but that can't be an excuse. You still need to come to the ballpark every day and work hard and have fun."

Now that his first Minor League season is winding down, Hampson is looking forward to next spring, when he'll have the opportunity to work with fellow Rockies shortstops Brendan Rodgers and Trevor Story. 

"I've learned a lot about myself, as a hitter especially," Hampson said. "I've learned what I can swing at, what I can't hit and what are good pitches and what are pitches you think you can hit, but they're just good pitches and you need to lay off them. I've got a lot to improve on and I'm looking forward to working on it in the offseason."

After relieving starter Breiling Eusebio in the fifth, Alec Kenilvort (2-1) allowed one hit and struck out two over 3 1/3 scoreless innings for the win. Justin Lawrence worked around a hit and a walk by fanning two in the ninth for his eighth save.

Garcia (6-2) surrendered two runs on four hits and a pair of walks with three strikeouts over six innings for the AquaSox.