Chris Dominguez turned in one of the most impressive individual performances in the history of the prestigious Cape Cod League Wednesday night, belting three home runs to match the single-game league record set by Frank Thomas in 1988.
The Big East Player of the Year now has six bombs on the season, leading the way for Hyannis, which currently sits atop the league's Western Division.
However, no one would have blamed him for wanting two autographs from Dominguez. Not after the Louisville slugger had just turned one of the most impressive performances in Cape Cod Baseball League history and certainly the greatest in his young but promising career.
Dominguez hit three homers, matching a CCBL wood-bat record set by Frank Thomas in 1988, and drove in five runs, while also turning two double plays to lead Hyannis to a 6-4 victory over visiting Falmouth Wednesday night. The power-hitting right-hander now has twice as many home runs (six) as the rest of the Mets combined (three) to go along with a .297 batting average and team-best 17 RBI.
Count Hyannis coach Rick Robinson among the impressed.
“If we’re looking for a mascot next year if we’re not going to be the Mets,” Robinson said, “I think we need to be the Dominguezes.”
Dominguez, who says he is still set on returning to Louisville "unless something crazy happens at the end of the summer," also turned in a sparkling defensive performance.
The third baseman also shined defensively. In the seventh, Dominguez caught a sharp line drive and fired across the diamond for the double-play, and in the eighth he snagged another liner and stepped on third to help the Mets escape a bases-loaded jam unscathed. Then, with Falmouth threatening in the ninth, Dominguez made a beautiful catch leaning against the dugout railing.
“He just had opportunities to do a lot and he took advantage of every single one of them,” Robinson said. “There are a lot of times you have a chance to do exactly the same thing he did, but very few people are ever able to capitalize on every single opportunity and basically that’s what he did tonight.”
Even if you're a casual baseball fan who's never been to a game at Jim Patterson Stadium, I beg you to get out there at least once next spring and see this kid, because it's not very often that guys like this come through here. Miss it, and you will have missed something very special.