BY: RYAN BASS
Every time senior outfielder Chris Duffy stepped up to the plate in past years, the result was pretty simple.
He would either muscle the ball over the outfield fence or he would sit down on three strikes. Through three games this season, all that seems behind the 6-foot-2, 240-pound left fielder.
Duffy, who struck out 144 times his first three years with the Knights, pulled the ball to right field, lined it the opposite way and powered pitches over the fence in this past weekend’s series against Savannah State en route to a .600 batting average and a team-leading seven RBI.
Head coach Terry Rooney tabs Duffy’s experience as a reason for the difference in his confidence at the plate in the opening series.
“When I say a mature hitter, I think he is just becoming a more advanced hitter,” Rooney said. “I think he has a better feel for his swing, a better feel for his body, and he has put on some good weight, and he is stronger. I’m hoping everything is starting to add up for Duffy to become the type of consistent hitter that he needs to be.”
High expectations
Coming out of Cypress Creek High School in 2006, Duffy was looked at as a centerpiece to building a program in Orlando.
He had high praise, being selected in the ninth round of the 2006 Major League Baseball draft by the Chicago White Sox, and he produced in his first two seasons, averaging about 32 RBI and hitting 16 home runs while batting .282.
The Achilles’ heel for Duffy had been his strikeouts, which seemed to come simultaneously with the long ball.
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Duffy’s focus has changed through the fall and into the season in an effort to cut down on the Ks.
“This year, I am trying to cut down on my strikeouts, because in the past years I have struck out a lot,” Duffy said. “I am just trying to put the ball in play and focus on going opposite field a little bit more when I have two strikes and also battle up there when I have two strikes.”
Friendly advice
He didn’t have to look far for some good advice. Duffy’s teammate and good friend Shane Brown has had success at the plate for the Knights in recent years and offered advice to help Duffy become more confident.
They worked countless hours in the batting cages together, even taking cuts late at night.
“Shane Brown, I have learned a lot from him,” Duffy said. “We would be in the batting cages in the middle of the night sometimes [just taking hacks]. He is a good example to follow as far as hitting. I see how he keeps it simple and how fluid he is, and we both work.”
After last season, Rooney made sure Duffy knew he would have to compete in the fall to keep his job.
With the influx of talent in the recruiting class, Rooney made it clear Duffy had to work hard in the fall.
“I told him at the end of last season when he came into the lineup this year that he is a senior and he is going to start the year out in the lineup, but we have a lot of talent on this team and you are going to have to earn your position,” Rooney said. “He earned it, and he had one of the best falls and preseasons of any of our players, and obviously you are seeing it now.”
No Power Outage
Despite his growth as a player and a hitter, Rooney doesn’t want too much change from Duffy at the plate. He knows the type of player he is and how much his power means to his own game and the Knights as a whole.
“I think Duffy is a guy that needs to be aggressive,” Rooney said. “He needs to find his pitch. Guys that hit the ball out of the park are guys that look for a pitch or look for a zone to hit it.
“The difference so far this season is that Chris is identifying what those pitches are and what those zones are, and that’s his experience and maturity as a hitter that’s coming. Last year, you would have seen him swing at a lot of pitches he didn’t swing at this weekend”
