Jul 1, 2015 4 min read

David Popkins already has beaten the odds once.

As an undrafted outfielder out of the University of California-Davis, Popkins signed with the talent-rich St. Louis Cardinals organization and made it all the way to Class AA in only three seasons. That’s quite an accomplishment because undrafted players are often no more than roster filler and released within a year of signing.

Popkins played in 90 games last summer for the Cardinals’ Double-A affiliate in Springfield, Mo., and had 18 extra-base hits. Being an undrafted player, however, meant Popkins had little room for error because the organization had more money invested in highly-drafted outfielders. His .243 batting average at Springfield gave the Cardinals a reason to release the 25-year-old native of San Diego this spring.

While some players could have called it career or gone home and sulked, being released only gave Popkins incentive to beat the odds again. He signed in May with the Wild Things, and on nights like Wednesday, you get the feeling the power-hitting switch-hitter can make it back to affiliated ball.

Popkins hit two home runs, including an impressive opposite-field two-run shot in the eighth inning, as the Wild Things cruised to a 6-0 victory over the Lake Erie Crushers at Consol Energy Park.

“When you’re undrafted, you can’t give the organization a reason to make the decision to release you. I had an average year last season, which made their decision easier,” Popkins said. “But all that did was add gas to the fire. I’m more determined than ever to get back.”

Popkins’ home runs were his ninth and 10th of the season but the first since June 16. After a torrid start to the Frontier League season, Popkins was mired a slump that dropped his batting average below .220, but a talk with Pete Rose, who was a pretty good switch-hitter, might have helped Popkins. Rose suggested Popkins concentrate more on picking up the rotation on each pitch instead of watching its location.

“I had never concentrated on the spin of the ball before,” Popkins said. “Honestly, since I’ve started doing that the last few days, it makes the ball seem like it’s in slow-motion.”

The early results are impressive. Popkins drew three walks Tuesday, including one that was eventually the game-winning run. Last night, Popkins was 2-for-3 with a solo homer to right field on the first pitch of the fourth inning and the opposite-field blast to left in the eighth.

“Baseball is a marathon, not a sprint,” Washington manager Bob Bozzuto said. “You’re going to have peaks and valleys throughout a season. (Pitchers) made some adjustments against Popkins and he tried the same approach. He’s been doing a lot of extra work with our hitting coach, Andrew Davis, and it’s starting to pay off.”

Washington first baseman Sam Mende also hit a home run, a two-run shot in the third inning that gave the Wild Things a 3-0 lead. That was plenty of support for starting pitcher Ernesto Zaragoza (4-2) and reliever Tim Giel, who combined on a three-hit shutout.

Zaragoza pitched seven innings and battled some control issues as he issued four walks and threw less than 50 percent of his 109 pitches for strikes. But the right-hander came up with quality pitches when needed and kept the Crushers scoreless. Lake Erie left eight runners on base.

“That shows you how good his stuff is,” Bozzuto said of Zaragoza. “They had only a couple of at-bats that were quality ones. He kept them off balance.”

Washington gave Zaragoza and Giel, who retired all six batters he faced, the only run they would need in the first inning. Danny Poma walked, stole second, moved to third on a groundout by Scott Kalamar and scored on a sacrifice fly by Carter Bell.

After that, all the Washington runs came on homers. Eight of the nine players in the Washington lineup reached base safely and shortstop Austin Wobrock was 3-for-4 to go with some stellar defense.

“We’ll just keep taking them one game at a time,” Bozzuto said. “With baserunning, we still have too many things to work on to feel good about ourselves.”

Lake Erie manager Chris Mongiardo was ejected in the top of the seventh inning by home plate umpire Joe Harris after the latter ruled a ground ball hit by the Crushers’ Juan Sanchez down the third-base line was foul. … Lake Erie was held to two runs or less in four of five games this season against Washington.