SAL notes: Hall stands tall with BlueClaws

No one has exhibited more power in the South Atlantic League this year than Lakewood's Darick Hall. Through Aug. 16, the 6-foot-4, 236-pound first baseman topped the Class A circuit with 24 home runs -- seven more than his closest competitor. He also ranked first in the league in RBIs (83), slugging percentage (.531), extra-base hits (52) and total bases (203).
Yet as prodigious as Hall's power has been in his first full season of professional baseball, big numbers have not always been a major part of his game. He hit a total of 10 home runs in his two years at Cochise College in Arizona prior to making an alteration at the plate upon transferring to Dallas Baptist for his junior campaign.

"I hit a lot of ground balls and hit for a high average in junior college," Hall said. "Last year at DBU, coach [Dan] Heefner worked with me on flattening my swing, making it more level instead of swinging down on the ball. That's when the power numbers emerged. The launch angle of the ball started to change, and with the backspin I generated, the ball started to carry."
The results were as impressive as they were immediate. His revamped swing generated a team-high 20 home runs and 72 RBIs along with a .302 batting average to help guide the Patriots to the Lubbock Regional. A few days later, the Philadelphia Phillies drafted Hall in the 14th round.
Upon signing with the Phillies, Hall followed in the footsteps of his grandfather, Bo Hall, who played in the Giants organization and in Mexico before guiding Cochise to back-to-back Junior College World Series appearances as the school's head coach. His uncle, Shane Hall, was Boston's 12th-round pick in 2000 and played three seasons in the Minor Leagues.
Hall credits his grandfather for "teaching me everything I know" while growing up. That guidance carried over into the professional ranks, where the first baseman generated a slash line of .282/.372/.518 with nine home runs and 29 RBIs at Class A Short Season Williamsport. In addition to his power output this season, the left-handed hitter is batting .267/.336/.531. He was named the SAL Player of the Week on Aug. 14, one day after he tied the Lakewood single-season home run mark that was set by Jose Pujols in 2016.

In many ways, Hall has made the transition from high school to junior college to Division I to pro ball look easy. While the trek has had its ups and downs, the infielder believes his ability to make adjustments at every level has helped make the journey smoother.
"As a ballplayer, you have to get used to playing wherever they put you," said Hall, who turned 22 on July 25. "Out of high school I only had junior college offers, but I was very happy to go to Cochise. And out of Cochise, I was very happy to go to DBU. It's amazing it's worked out the way it has. I believe the transition from place to place helps you understand that if you did it then, you can do it now."
One aspect that has made pro ball a little easier is his complete focus on being a position player. Hall was a right-handed pitcher throughout his amateur career, which included an overall 16-8 record at Cochise with a 2.09 ERA as a sophomore. He also served in DBU's weekend rotation in his lone season with the Patriots and posted a 9-3 mark with a 3.43 ERA in 16 starts.
"Pitching's fun -- it's something I was kind of natural at but I wasn't exceptional, if that makes any sense," Hall said. "I was always a strike thrower, and the college game calls for throwing strikes. I miss it sometimes, but I always put 95 percent of my focus on first base and hitting. Everything has kind of worked out the way I thought it would in that regard."
Hall says his focus now centers on learning how to garner more consistency over the course of the long campaign. He admits he had no way of knowing what to expect while playing a full season, and he hit a wall in July, when he batted .206/.282/.412 before working his way out of his slump. He credits all his coaches for teaching him the benefits of staying positive, which he feels will help him maintain his consistency in all phases of the game as he climbs the organizational ladder.
"The game in pro ball and in college is the same in that you have to play at a high level every time you take the field," Hall said. "In pro ball, you have to find a way to get through your bad days because you play every day. In college, if you have a bad weekend, you have all week to work it out. In pro ball, if you have a bad series, you have to get on the bus and prepare yourself mentally to play the next series the following day."

In brief

Dynamic duo: The dog days of August have meant nothing but dominance for Rome starters Bryse Wilson and Joey Wentz. The right-handed Wilson, Atlanta's fourth-round pick in 2016, is 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA in three starts, allowing 10 hits and seven walks with 23 strikeouts in 18 2/3 innings so far this month. Wentz, a left-hander taken in the supplemental first round last year, is 2-0 with a 0.48 ERA in three August starts; he has surrendered seven hits and five walks with 22 strikeouts in 18 2/3 frames.
Abreu en fuego: August also agrees with Asheville right fielder Willie Abreu, who leads the SAL with an OPS of 1.109 through Aug. 16. Through his first 14 outings of the month, the University of Miami product had a .403/.464/.645 line with nine extra-base hits and 12 RBIs. He also had 10 stolen bases to rank second in the league with 37 on the season. Abreu also ranks second in hits (123) and total bases (201), third in doubles (30) and extra-base hits (48) and fourth with 70 RBIs.
Family feud: Throughout the season, West Virginia and Lexington have battled in the Hatfield-McCoy Feud over the course of 25 games to determine who takes possession of the Gold Pig trophy. The Power's 3-2 victory on Aug. 15 gave West Virginia its clinching 13th triumph in the campaign's 23rd meeting to secure the prize in its first year of existence.