St. Lucie's Travis Ozga waits for a pitch during Wednesday's first game of a double header at Jupiter. (FAUOwlAccess.com photo)
Chasing a ring
Former Owl Friday: Travis Ozga scored the run that put St. Lucie in the Florida State League playoffs. Now he hopes to win a ring playing for a team that's a little more than an hour's drive from his hometown.
Originally published on
8/5/2011
by
Chuck King
JUPITER - Travis Ozga drew a one-out, pinch-hit walk in the bottom of the 11th inning against Charlotte on June 20. Two batters later he came all the around to score on a double, providing the St. Lucie Mets with the the run that clinched the first-half title in the high-Class A Florida State League's South Division.
“That was probably the best experience of the year,” Ozga said on Wednesday, an hour before his Mets were scheduled to start at double header at Jupiter.
This year has been filled with interesting moments for Ozga. He'd been hitting .288 in late June when injuries at the higher levels of the Mets' organization prompted Ozga's promotion to Class AA Binghamton.
Ozga's bat didn't make the impression he would have liked – recording only seven hits in 34 plate appearances (.206) – but he did impress with his arm. Earlier in the season when St. Lucie's pitching staff ran short on arms, Ozga, normally a first or third baseman, offered to join the pitching staff.
He threw some bullpens with St. Lucie, but Ozga and his 91 mph fastball didn't actually enter a game until his stint in Binghamton, where he pitched a scoreless inning in mop-up duty.
“I want to be a hitter,” said Ozga, who has a combined.256 average as a corner utility player between the Florida State League and Eastern League this season. “I want to be a position player, but at the same point I want to do whatever gives me the best chance to make the big leagues.”
Ozga spent a little less than a month in Binghamton before being sent back to St. Lucie.
“Everyone got healthy, so I'm back,” Ozga said.
There are plenty of positives about being back in the Florida State League. A graduate of Pope John Paul II High School in Boca Raton, Ozga spent Tuesday's off day back in Boca Raton with his family.
And he's already looking forward to the playoffs, which begin Sept. 6.
“I'm not upset about (being back in St. Lucie),” Ozga said. “We have the playoffs coming up. Hopefully I can get a ring for us.”
Stepping up: Brandon Kloess has allowed only two runs in his first 18 2/3 innings since being promoted to Class AA Birmingham. ...Alex Pepe completed a scoreless July for the short season Class A Vancouver Canadians by tossing two scoreless innings on Sunday. ...Mickey Storey is averaging exactly one strikeout per inning over his past 10 appearances for the Class AAA Oklahoma City RedHawks.
Low and away: Nick DelGuidice's .313 average over his last 10 games for the Arizona League Royals has actually caused his season average to fall to .400.
Indy ins and outs: Andy Mee picked up his first loss of the season on Tuesday, allowing three earned runs in 1 1/3 innings for the Normal Cornbelters of the Frontier League.