CASEY AT THE BAT; ROYAL HIGH'S O'QUINN PROVES BEYOND DOUBT THAT HE BELONGS WITH THE BIG BOYS.Byline: Heather Gripp Daily News Staff Writer Casey O'Quinn seemed like an outsider. Alongside some of the region's top high school baseball players such as Kevin Howard Kevin C. Howard (born June 25, 1981 in Hinsdale, Illinois) is a infielder in Minor League Baseball who plays for the Jacksonville Suns in the Double-A Southern League. and Wes Rasmussen, here was a player who had been demoted to the Royal High junior varsity team For the American rock band, see . In sports, usually at the high school and college levels, members of a team who are not the main players in a competition (such as a football or basketball game) are called junior varsity players. for much of his sophomore season. O'Quinn did his best to fit in on the summer-league team last year and in the process developed an attitude that is helping him stand out again - this time for his quality play with the Highlanders, who compete in the second round of the Southern Section Division II playoffs today at Sunny Hills. ``More than anything, I just wanted to prove to people that I deserved to be here, make myself known,'' O'Quinn said. ``I was kind of an unknown. That might have made me work harder.'' O'Quinn made his point. The junior is batting .479 with 29 RBI RBI abbr. Baseball runs batted in Noun 1. rbi - a run that is the result of the batter's performance; "he had more than 100 rbi last season" run batted in and a 1.068 slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (abbreviated SLG) is the most popular measure of the power of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats: . He's homered in each of Royals' last four games to give him nine for the season, two behind Brian Lipman's school-record 11. He has yet to make an error as the Highlanders' left fielder. ``Casey went on just an absolute surge,'' senior shortstop Derek O'Keefe said. ``It doesn't surprise me. In practice, he's been tearing it up all year.'' O'Quinn always considered hitting the strength of his game but never anticipated being able to contribute this much. ``It's great,'' he said. ``I've just totally blown away all my goals for the season.'' O'Quinn, 17, started 1998 as the Highlanders' second baseman second baseman n. Baseball The infielder who is positioned near and to the first-base side of second base. Noun 1. second baseman - (baseball) the person who plays second base second sacker . He struggled to produce offensively and was sent down to JV when he didn't have any hits in the first few league games. A move to the outfield intensified the frustration and his anger spiraled out of control. ``I went into the tank after that,'' O'Quinn said. ``After the season I just told myself I was going to do whatever it takes to make sure I don't have another season like that. ``Over the summer I just got my head screwed on straight.'' Remembering to have fun instead of thinking about the pressure was one of the most important lessons he learned. The 6-foot, 175-pound player also increased his weight training and decided to work as hard as he could at becoming a better player. His attention is devoted to his ``No. 1 sport'' year-round now after a shoulder injury that bothered him throughout his sophomore year scared him into quitting football. O'Quinn's power hitting took off in the second half of this season following his return from a case of mononucleosis mononucleosis /mono·nu·cle·o·sis/ (-noo?kle-o´sis) excess of mononuclear leukocytes (monocytes) in the blood. chronic mononucleosis chronic fatigue syndrome. . The longtime Mark McGwire ``Actually, I've been trying more than anything to keep things the same,'' O'Quinn said. ``I try not to think about it. I tell myself if I hit the ball hard at least once every game, I'll be satisfied. I go up there with the approach to just hit it hard. If I get my pitch, it can go out. It's just been flying out a lot lately.'' O'Quinn's hot hitting coincides with the resurgence of Lipman, who bats in front of O'Quinn and hit a slump after a fast start. It's no coincidence, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Lipman. ``I've been seeing better pitches,'' Lipman said. ``People are starting to know who he is.'' Having a lineup full of power makes it almost as hard for the opposition to pitch around O'Quinn. ``I love it,'' he said. ``The only thing I don't like, is (Lipman) is such a productive hitter, I don't get to drive in as many runs. I don't really consider that a problem, though. My numbers don't matter to me.'' What matters to O'Quinn is helping Royal advance through the playoffs. Finishing second in a Marmonte League The Marmonte League is a high school sports league primarily made up of schools from Ventura County. The Marmonte Leauge is part of the CIF Southern Section. Click here to view the league schedule. race they appeared on track to win made the Highlanders even hungrier to do well in the postseason. From there, O'Quinn looks forward to a summer of playing baseball and making sure there's no doubt that he belongs among the elite. ``I want to try to prove this wasn't a fluke fluke, parasitic flatworm of the trematoda class, related to the tapeworm. Instead of the cilia, external sense organs, and epidermis of the free-living flatworms, adult flukes have sucking disks with which they cling to their hosts and an external cuticle that this year,'' he said. ``I know it's not.'' O'QUINN FILE Player: Casey O'Quinn Team: Royal baseball Position: Outfield Year: Junior Age: 17 Notable: A recent power surge An oversupply of voltage from the power company that can last up to 50 microseconds. Although surges are very short in duration, they often reach 6,000 volts and 3,000 amps when they arrive at the equipment. Power surges are a common cause of damage to computers and electronic equipment. , including four home runs in the last four games, has O'Quinn within two of Royal leader and school-record holder Brian Lipman. O'Quinn has nine homers as well as a .479 batting average batting average n. Baseball A measure of a batter's performance obtained by dividing the total of base hits by the number of times at bat, not including walks. Noun 1. , 29 RBI and a 1.068 slugging percentage. And he hasn't made an error all season. (Color) Junior Casey O'Quinn is batting .479 with 29 RBI and has homered in each of Royals' last four games. Phil McCarten/Daily News BOX: O'QUINN FILE (See text) CAPTION(S): Photo, Box |
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