When Josh Schleichardt steps up to the plate, the Pickles are in good hands
On July 3 against the Cowlitz Blackbears, Josh Schleichardt (Vanguard University) stepped up to bat in the fifth inning with the momentum in the Pickles' favor. Up 2-0 with one out and the bases loaded, Schleichardt and the Pickles were in an ideal position to extend their lead.
Schleichardt swung and missed on his first pitch, but the ball bounced away from the Cowlitz catcher, and Petey Soto Jr. (Utah Tech) bolted home from third base, making the score 3-0. Three pitches later, with a count of 1-2, Schleichardt hit a bomb left field and out of the park, notching his 15th home run of the season and increasing the Pickles' lead to 6-0.
But he didn’t just pad the lead — he helped drive Portland to its eventual 16-0 blowout over the Blackbears. With that homer, Schleichardt tied the WCL single-season home run record. And there’s still a whole month left in the season for him to break that record.
Schleichardt has been a more than reliable presence at the plate for Portland this season, often driving offensive momentum or turning the tide in the Pickles' favor. In 131 at-bats this season, Schleichardt has a .336 batting average, 50 RBIs and 44 runs scored.
The stats speak for themselves — Schleichardt is a beast at the plate.
“It feels really good and I’ve just got to credit God and my teammates and the opportunity to be out here and get this opportunity and just enjoy it,” Schleichardt said following his record-tying game. “At the end of the day, baseball is a very rewarding game, and it’s also a very humbling game, but you take your days, and today, it happened.”
In comparing his junior season at Vanguard and his season thus far with the Pickles, it’s clear that Portland is aiding his development at the plate. In 19 fewer games, Schleichardt already has five more homers and six more runs than his entire Vanguard season.
Schleichardt’s consistency at the top of the order is what makes him such an asset. When he steps up to the plate, there’s not just a good chance he will get a hit, but his hit will often drive runners home.
A perfect example of this happened on June 28 against the Ridgefield Raptors. Portland was down 4-0 heading into the bottom of the third inning. Jared Lewis (San Jose State University) and Joey Wright (University of California Davis) each tallied a single, and a Luis Castillo (University of Arkansas Little Rock) hit-by-pitch led to the bases loaded for the Pickles as Schleichardt stepped up to bat. And on the first pitch he faced, Schleichardt hit it out of the park to tie the game.
Schleichardt has been a reliable presence on offense, batting out of the second spot all season, and he has been rewarded with both a Player of the Week Title in June and a spot in the WCL All-Star Game this week. Whether it's a single, a home run, or even getting hit by a pitch, Schleichardt has proved time and again that he can transform the momentum of a game. And it’s great news for the Pickles that he’s showing no signs of slowing down.