Gillespie an Average Guy Again

Even though Eric Gillespie felt he was hitting the ball well, 0 for 23 can eat at you. Especially when it’s your first 23 of the season.

For the first couple weeks of the season, the former Cal State Northridge first baseman would look at his name on statistics sheet for Class-A Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and see that ugly “.000” in the batting average column.

When he finally broke through with a hit, the floodgates opened.

“I was like I was able to breathe again [after getting a hit],” he said Friday. “Every day I would go to the field and think, ‘I’ve got to get that first hit.’ Once I got it, I got my confidence back, and that’s basically what hitting is all about.”

Since his season-opening skid, Gillespie is 57 for 178 (.320) with 13 home runs. He has lifted his average to .284, and he has 41 runs batted in.

“I started getting hits here and there and getting some home runs and then I started to feel like I was back at [Northridge],” said Gillespie, who hit two home runs on Thursday night. “It was good to know I can do that every day.

“I’m not an oh-for-23 kind of guy.”

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Outfielder Gary Matthews Jr. (Granada Hills, Mission College) was promoted from Class-A Rancho Cucamonga to double-A Mobile, Ala. . . . Right-hander Russ Ortiz (Montclair Prep) went from double-A Shreveport, La., to triple-A Phoenix. . . . First baseman Robbie Welles (Pepperdine) moved from low Class-A Cedar Rapids to Lake Elsinore.

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Scanning Thursday’s box scores: TRIPLE A--Third baseman Torey Lovullo (Montclair Prep) hit his second home run for Buffalo. . . . Right-hander Roland De La Maza (St. Genevieve) picked up a victory with one scoreless inning, improving to 3-0 for Buffalo. . . . First baseman Rich Aude (Chatsworth) hit his third home run in as many games for Syracuse. . . . Outfielder Chris Sheff (Pepperdine) hit his fifth home run for Charlotte, N.C. DOUBLE A--First baseman Brad Fullmer (Montclair Prep) had three hits, including his 15th home run, and three RBIs for Harrisburg, Pa. . . . Outfielder Pat Bryant (Cleveland) hit his 12th home run and drove in four runs for Trenton, N.J. . . . Former JetHawk Ken Cloude (8-3) was the winning pitcher for Memphis in a 6-4 victory over Greenville. . . . First baseman Benji Simonton (Pepperdine) hit his 14th home run for Shreveport. . . . First baseman Mike Mitchell (Rio Mesa) hit his 28th double and had three RBIs for Rancho Cucamonga. Left fielder Mike Glendenning (Pierce) hit his 11th and 12th home runs for Bakersfield in the same game. . . . Second baseman Dave Newhan (Pepperdine) had three hits for Visalia. . . . Will Skett (Reseda/Valley) hit his 13th home run for Dunedin. . . . Chris Garza (Notre Dame) picked up his second save and lowered his earned-run average to 1.99 for Ft. Wayne. . . . First baseman Eric Gillespie (CS Northridge) hit his 12th and 13th home runs for Cedar Rapids.

JETHAWKS

Catcher Karl Thompson, though he has never been sent down in his brief pro career until this week, already has the lines down.

“I’m just glad to come to a place where I can play every day,” said Thompson, who joined the JetHawks this week after hitting .230 in the first half at double-A Memphis. “I wasn’t playing every day up there and I was a little out of sync.”

Thompson, a sixth-round pick out of Santa Clara in 1995, hit .290 with 36 doubles last season at Wisconsin, earning an invitation to major league camp this spring. He had such a good spring that he initially skipped Lancaster, which is the normal step after Wisconsin.

He is expected to play four or five days a week with the JetHawks, with Jim Horner and David Skeels splitting the other games.

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Tonight’s Game: Lake Elsinore (Josh Deakman, 4-3, 3.75) at JetHawks (Javier Gutierrez, 1-0, 4.09), 7:15.