- WEEKLY POLL
Ted Williams could take lessons from Justin Lau
By Mark Griffin
Special to the Press
sports@presspublications.com
There are several reasons why Genoa senior outfielder/pitcher Justin Lau is chasing a Suburban Lakes League batting crown this season.
“For one, he has a real good eye at plate,” first-year Comets
coach Dan Thompson said. “He has a nice swing, and he can take a pitch
to right field and can put it in all fields. He’s a disciplined hitter
and he hits the pitches he needs to hit. He doesn’t swing at bad pitches.
He waits for his pitch.
“He’s also one of my best base runners. He’s a very instinctive base runner. Justin is also a very good defensive player. Has a good arm and good range in center field.”
Lau, a three-year starter, was a second-team all-league outfielder last season when he hit in the low .400s. He was batting .530 halfway through the 2008 season.
Ted Williams was the last major leaguer to hit over .400 for a full season. Of course, Williams had major league pitching to contend with, and Lau would be happy to take lessons from Williams if it were possible. But batting .530 is no joke for anyone at any level.
Through Tuesday, Lau was hitting .459 (17-for-37) with 16 walks, a .667 on-base percentage, 15 RBI and 16 runs scored. He also has one home run, one triple and two doubles.
A week ago, Lau led the SLL with a .483 average for the two-time defending league champs.
“I’m glad to be there. That was my goal for the year, just to be in the top five,” Lau said. “Being No. 1, that was OK. I don’t want to say it was expected, because that sounds a little cocky. But, that was my goal coming into the year.”
Lau said his demeanor at the plate is simple: see ball, hit ball.
“When I get my pitch,” he said, “I swing. I try not to take as many pitches. I don’t wait for the ‘hitters’ counts.’ I got better at hitting the off-speed pitch, but that’s still something I need to work on.”
Lau (6’0, 170) said he started to make adjustments his junior year, at the urging of former Genoa coach Danny Clayton, who is now at Waite.
“I’ve been waiting for my pitch the past two years,” Lau said. “Coach Clayton gave me hit-and-runs on the first and second pitch, to make me swing. Since he did that, I realized it didn’t have to be a perfect pitch. Making contact is good enough, and that just carried over into this year.”
Lau has also improved his batting eye by taking, he said, “lots of swings in practice.”
“For the past three years we’ve taken 100 swings every practice,” said Lau, who bats third in the lineup behind senior Justin Adkins, who is hitting .400 in the SLL this year. “We’re going in on off days, making sure you get your swings every single day.”
On the mound, the right-handed Lau is 3-1 with one save and a 3.21 ERA with 23 strikeouts in 24 innings. He is 3-0 with a 2.63 ERA against SLL opponents.
“He has a decent fastball but he mixes speeds well,” Thompson said. “He has a curveball and a knuckleball and a changeup. He knows baseball, so he knows how to change speeds to certain hitters to get them on their front foot.”
Lau’s performance on the mound and at the plate has been critical for Genoa, which through Tuesday was 10-7 and 7-1 in the SLL. The lone league loss was a 6-4 decision to Elmwood.
Lau said he doesn’t have any superstitions when he takes the mound. He said he tries to be confident and trust all of his pitches.
“If I know the hitters well - we have some good ones in the SLL - I try not to back down,” Lau said. “I’ll give them some fastballs around the plate and try to make them hit it. At the same time, I’m not stupid. I’m not going to put it down the middle or anything.”
Lau’s father, Scott, who pitched for the Comets in the late 1970s, is a first-year assistant coach at Genoa.
“It’s OK,” Lau said of having his father help coach the team. “It has its advantages and disadvantages. It’s nice to have somebody to talk to at home about my swing. At the same time, he’s a little hard on me sometimes.”
Lau, who said he also takes pride in his defense – “I would like to think I have a pretty good arm” – has a 3.3 GPA and plans to study secondary education for social studies at the University of Toledo.
“I’m going to teach grades 7-10,” he said. “I want to get into coaching and I figured that’s one of my best options to get into it. I want to coach basketball and baseball, so whichever one presents itself, that’s what I’ll go for.”
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