Hiura blasts Shuckers to SL Finals

Since starting his professional career a little over a year ago, Keston Hiura has proven to be an imposing force at the plate. Wielding his elite hit tool Saturday, the top Brewers prospect mashed his way to a career night while helping his team get closer to a title.
Hiura homered and doubled and drove in a career-best six runs to lead Double-A Biloxi to a Southern League semifinal series victory with a 9-1 thumping of Pensacola in Game 4 at MGM Park.

"It feels amazing. This team deserves it all," Hiura said. "I wouldn't want to be in this position with anyone else. I'm glad with the way everyone's been playing going into the playoffs and, obviously, in the playoffs. I'm happy to get the win and get on to the championship."
Hiura collected a single in both of the first two contests, but in Game 3, he whacked two doubles, including the go-ahead knock in the eighth inning that gave the Shuckers a 3-2 edge. 
The 2017 first-round pick rode that hot bat into his first plate appearance Saturday night. With No. 15 Brewers prospect Troy Stokes Jr. and 19th-ranked Trent Grisham on the corners with one out in the first inning, MLB.com's No. 26 overall prospect smoked Daniel Wright's 2-2 offering for a low line drive to deep left and was "stoked" to see the ball clear the wall.
Gameday box score
Given a chance to pad the lead one frame later, the California native sent a 3-2 pitch into right field for a three-run double. Hiura said that Pensacola had been busting him inside with fastballs and then throwing off-speed pitches on the outside part of the plate in the series. Keeping that in mind helped him produce in those first two at-bats. 
"It was a matter of just seeing the ball well and getting a pitch I could drive," he said. "[Wright] got me down to two strikes again and he threw a curveball the first pitch and it got down to two strikes and he threw another curveball and left it a little bit up. ... It was just one of those pitches where you kind of just put the ball in play."
In his first full season as a professional, the 22-year-old second baseman did not disappoint, hitting .320/.382/.529 over 50 games with Class A Advanced Carolina before earning a promotion to the Southern League on June 1. Although he hit .207 in August, Hiura's overall stats didn't take a big hit as he finished with a .272 average and .755 OPS in 73 Double-A games.
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Hiura's early heroics were enough for Shuckers starter and 12th-ranked Brewers prospect Marcos Diplan (1-0), who allowed one run on one hit and a walk while matching a season high with 10 strikeouts over six frames. He threw 68 of 102 pitches for strikes and faced four over the minimum. 
No. 17 Milwaukee prospect Cody Ponce followed Diplan with two scoreless frames, yielding just a hit while whiffing two. Brad Kuntz fanned a pair in a perfect ninth to seal the win.
Hiura has a chance at a title in his second season with the Brewers, an opportunity he never got during his college career. 

"It's exciting. I hadn't, unfortunately, been able to make the playoffs in college at UC Irvine," he said. "Being in this atmosphere, being September and the same with how the Brewers are battling every game to get in the playoffs, it's exciting to be part of."
Gavin LaValley drove in the Blue Wahoos' lone run with a solo homer in the second inning.

In other Southern League playoff action:

Biscuits 10, Generals 7
Third-ranked Rays prospectJesús Sánchez and David Rodríguez each finished a triple shy of the cycle as Montgomery blasted four home runs and forced a winner-take-all Game 5. Kevin Medrano went 3-for-4 with a homer and two RBIs, while No. 30 D-backs prospectDominic Miroglio also collected three hits for Jackson. The series finale is Sunday at 6:05 p.m. ET in Montgomery. Gameday box score