For most high school baseball players ranked top-10 in the country and No. 1 overall in the state of California, they likely expect to start right away entering the college game. That was not the case for Arizona outfielder Chase Davis last season during his freshman year, seeing just 30 plate appearances on the season.
Davis labeled that situation as a challenge he decided to take on.
“I knew I was going to get an opportunity down the road,” Davis said. “Maybe if it wasn’t my time during that year, it’s ok. I really stuck with it and worked each and every day as hard as I could. I knew this time would come and I was very prepared for it.”
If his name wasn’t already a household name across the country, it certainly is now coming off a two-home run game against Stanford that included a grand slam to break a 3-3 tie and help the Wildcats sweep Stanford. Davis is currently hitting .307 at the plate to go along with 23 RBIs, one short of the team lead (Tanner O’Tremba with 24 RBIs).
His eight home runs not only lead the team, but he is tied for first in that category across the entire Pac-12. Davis never enters an at-bat looking to hit a home run, but he knows and understands his power when he can make good contact on the ball.
“I’m just looking to hit the ball as hard as I can and put the bat on the ball,” Davis said. “I know myself as a hitter and when I do hit the ball, it’s hit hard. So I don’t really try and do too much but just put a good swing on it and let everything else do its job.”
One common theme about each of Davis’ long balls so far this season is that they have all been no-doubters.
“He has got extremely good bat speed,” Arizona head coach Chip Hale said. “When he puts the barrel on the ball, it has a good chance to hit a long way.”
Davis has shown not only his power at the plate this season, but also his patience in not trying to do too much or force a swing. This has led to a team-high 11 walks drawn this season. Hale said this was the expectation heading into this season.
“That’s one thing I knew he would do,” Hale said. “If you look at his high school numbers, the average wasn’t that great. Even his summer ball stuff, but he has always been an on-base guy. If you look at the walks and how important those are, he has a really good eye, so we knew that was going to translate.”
Davis called hitting a grand slam at Hi Corbett Field in front of the Arizona fans a “dream come true.”
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“It is early still, but at the same time it is really cool to be able to see where we are at and what we’re doing as a team,” Davis said.
As the Wildcats continue into Pac-12 play, it is clear that the vibes remain high in the Wildcats clubhouse.
“We have a new team, new coaching staff and lots of hard work because this took months to do, to form this kind of team and get to know each other and how we act and operate with each other,” Davis said. “It took the fall, days of weight training and practices out here in the sun to be able to get to know each other and have that chemistry.”
The Wildcats take on the University of New Mexico on the road for one game on Wednesday with first pitch scheduled for 5:00 p.m. MST. They then will return home for a weekend series against UCLA.
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