TEXAS LEAGUE

Cleary off to nice start in Tulsa

Tulsa center fielder Delta Cleary Jr. of Jonesboro went 0 for 3 in the Drillers’ 2-0 victory over the Arkansas Travelers in the first game of Tuesday’s doubleheader at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock, but he still leads the Texas League with a .333 batting average. That’s a significant improvement from last season, when he finished at .207 in his first season at Class AA.
Tulsa center fielder Delta Cleary Jr. of Jonesboro went 0 for 3 in the Drillers’ 2-0 victory over the Arkansas Travelers in the first game of Tuesday’s doubleheader at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock, but he still leads the Texas League with a .333 batting average. That’s a significant improvement from last season, when he finished at .207 in his first season at Class AA.

Delta Cleary Jr.’s first three at-bats in his home state this season didn’t go so well Tuesday.

The 24-year-old outfielder for the Tulsa Drillers went 0 for 3 in the first game of a doubleheader against the Arkansas Travelers at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock. But considering how the 2007 Jonesboro High School graduate’s first three weeks have gone, a rough day has been a bit easier to shake off than it was last season.

Cleary wasn’t sulking after the Drillers’ 2-0 victory in Game 1. He was leaning against the wall along the third-base line, having a lighthearted chat with two former high school teammates before gladly discussing the uptick in confidence he gained from a positive end to last season and a positive start this season.

“I think the confidence has gone up,” Cleary said. “Just kind of trusting myself and understanding what I can do and be good at what I can do.”

Those questions have been a lot easier to answer this year.

Cleary, a 37th-round draft pick of the Colorado Rockies in 2008 out of LSU-Eunice, entered Tuesday leading the Texas League with a .368 batting average. Even after going 1 for 7 in Tuesday’s doubleheader - the Drillers won the second game 1-0 in 11 innings - he was still hitting .333, which is a significant improvement from last season when he hit .207 in his first year in Class AA.

Cleary and Tulsa Manager Kevin Riggs are cautious of making any major proclamations, saying the improvement has been over only a couple of weeks and there are plenty more games to play. But Riggs, who managed Cleary last season, said he saw the outfielder turn a corner toward the end of last season.

Cleary entered the final two weeks of the season hitting .192, but he hit .368 over his last nine games. His overall average of .207 wouldn’t elicit confidence from many, but the strong finish was just enough for a player who had struggled so much over the first four months.

“He got in such a rut early on, and then you’re trying to dig yourself out of it,” Riggs said. “That’s what it came down to. You’ve buried yourself and you want to try to make up for it one game and get four hits instead of one game at a time.”

Cleary’s final week helped his mind-set after he arrived in Scottsdale, Ariz., in February for spring training. He didn’t make it to big-league camp, which is the desired starting point for any minor-leaguer, but he worked out mostly with the Class AAA Colorado Springs Sky Sox, which gave him a chance to see better pitching.

Cleary said the difference was developing a willingness to ask questions.

“Actually, being a student of the game,” he said. “Not thinking that I know everything. Just come out, and if anybody has some advice, I’m willing to take [it] and hopefully it works out for me.”

It has so far this season.

After two hitless games to start the season, Cleary had two hits in four consecutive games and went 3 for 4 with 2 runs scored in a victory Saturday night against Northwest Arkansas. He has 14 hits this season; it took him a month to get that many last season.

“If you get some confidence, you’ll do things that you couldn’t even imagine you could do,” Riggs said.

Cleary isn’t trying to get too far ahead of himself. He said he isn’t even concerned about if or when he gets to Class AAA. He’ll settle with hitting Class AA pitching for now.

“It’s trying to roll with it for 140 games,” he said. “I’m just trying to show that I can play in this league.”

Today’s game ARKANSAS VS. TULSA WHEN 11 a.m.

WHERE Dickey-Stephens Park, North Little Rock RADIO KARN-AM, 920, in central Arkansas WEBSITE travs.com

PITCHERS Travelers: Kramer Sneed (LHP, 1-2, 3.86 ERA); Drillers: Tyler Anderson (LHP, 1-1, 3.00) TICKETS Gates open 1 hour before the game. $12 box seats, $8 reserved ($5 children), $6 general admission ($4 children).

THE WEEK AHEAD

TODAY Tulsa, 11 a.m.

THURSDAY Tulsa 7:10 p.m.

FRIDAY Springfield, 7:10 p.m.

SATURDAY Springfield, 6:10 p.m.

SUNDAY Springfield, 2:10 p.m.

MONDAY Springfield, 7:10 p.m.

TUESDAY at Tulsa, 7:05 p.m.

Sports, Pages 23 on 04/23/2014

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