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Spokane Indians

Seth Spivey sparks Indians to snap losing streak

By Josh Horton joshho@spokesman.com

Seth Spivey calls Bernham, Texas, home, but as far as his baseball career goes, he feels more at home in Spokane.

Spivey, who was third in the Northwest League with a .332 batting average for the Indians in 2014, was 3 for 5 with three doubles and three runs scored in the Indians 9-3 rout of Everett on Wednesday in Bark in the Park night at Avista Stadium.

The Rangers’ 10th round pick in 2014 followed up a successful first minor league season struggling in advanced Single-A, hitting .204 with three home runs and 24 strikeouts. For the 2016 season, Spivey was sent back down to Spokane to work on a transition to catcher, and it’s done wonders for his mindset at the plate, he says.

“(At High Desert) the wind blows straight out, and I was trying to become a guy I’m not and try and hit home runs instead of line-drive doubles like I did tonight,” Spivey said. “This field helps me stay in myself and not try and hit balls out and just stay up the middle and work gap to gap.”

For Spivey, moving backward through the minor league system isn’t tough to swallow. Even though he was drafted by the Rangers as a catcher, he’s excited to add that to his abilities after playing all infield spots and both corners of the outfield in his first two seasons in pro ball.

Indians’ manager Tim Hulett said the way Spivey has bought into the organization’s plan is a tribute to his character.

“He does swing a good bat and adding catching to his repertoire is a big thing for him,” said Hulett. “I think moving him to catcher maximizes his ability. He can play almost every position on the field. That creates a lot of value for him.”

The Indians generated most of their offense in a five-run fifth inning, where they sent nine batters to the dish. Spivey picked up his only RBI of the night, launching a double to the right-center field wall to score Chad Smith from second. Preston Scott and Josh Merrigan followed with RBI singles, Elio Castillo picked up an RBI on a groundout and Todd McDonald hit an RBI single to give the Indians a 7-0 advantage.

Spokane tacked on two more runs in the seventh, as Scott drove an RBI double to right field and Elio Castillo hit a run-scoring single to left field to put the Indians up 9-2.

Everett scored its only runs on an RBI single from Jordan Cowan and a throwing error from Scott in right field to score Ray Guerrini in the same at-bat earlier in the top of the seventh, and a RBI single from Bryson Brigman in the ninth.

Spokane scored its first runs with two outs in the bottom of the fourth. Castillo and McDonald each hit RBI doubles put the Indians up 2-0.

Jacob Shortslef picked up the win for Spokane, pitching five innings, striking out four and giving up three hits and no earned runs. Brandon Miller was handed the loss for Everett.

Castillo, Scott and McDonald were each 2 for 4 and combined for seven RBIs.