THE MONDAY HIVE: Boyette Knows How To Get On Base

By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

Owen Oreskovich didn’t need a sales pitch.

The Burlington Bees manager was looking for outfield help in late June when pitchers Drew Martin and Jake Jakubowski came to him with a name — Corey Boyette, their teammate at Heartland (Ill.) Community College.

“JJ and D-Mart came up here one day and they said, ‘Hey, we’ve got an outfielder for you. We’ve got this kid from Heartland…,’ Oreskovich said. “And I know how these kids from Heartland are, so I was already like, ‘Yes.’”

Martin and Jakubowski mentioned a few of Boyette’s statistics.

“And then they said he was a lefty,” Oreskovich said. “I mean, it was already a ‘Yes,’ but that solidified it.”

At the same time, Martin and Jakubowski were sending text messages to Boyette.

Again, no sales pitch was necessary.

“I was like, I don’t have any plans yet,” Boyette said. “They said they were talking to Coach O about me. In a couple of hours, I got a text saying, ‘Hey, can you be here on July 1?’”

The match has worked out, and Boyette has delivered on the advertising.

Boyette is batting .311 in 18 games, with four home runs and 14 runs batted in. He has a .488 on-base percentage and a 1.045 OPS. He has been on base in all but three games since joining the Bees on July 1.

That comes after his freshman season at Heartland, when he hit .457 with a .553 on-base percentage and a 1.273 OPS. He had six home runs and drove in 76 runs, but he also had 42 walks against 24 strikeouts, a valuable offensive piece in the lineup of a team that won the NJCAA Division II World Series.

“He knows what he’s looking for early in the count,” Oreskovich said. “He’s got an incredible eye. I mean, it’s basically as simple as that. He knows what he’s looking for, and if it’s there, he’s going to swing. If it’s not, even if it’s a strike early in the count, he’ll take it, just so he can go on.”

“I think it’s something I’ve had a lot of success with,” Boyette said. “A lot of it is, obviously, pitch selection. I trust my approach. I work my approach every game. And that’s what a lot of this summer has been — making those small adjustments that I can take into my sophomore year of college.”

Boyette has thrived in the relaxed atmosphere of summer baseball.

“I think it’s just the ability to come out here and be a little more independent, with all of the resources here,” Boyette said. “I get here pretty early every day, and take care of what I need to do. Come game time, I’m always ready.

“I knew it was a little more relaxing than a college spring season. But coming out here, it’s cool. It’s like a pro schedule. It’s something new, not having to worry about your school work every day. Just focus on baseball.”

Being a part of a championship team at Heartland has helped his confidence as well.

“Obviously, we had high expectations,” he said. “Being a freshman, I didn’t know what that was going to be like. I didn’t know we were going to win a national championship. At the end of the year, when we won, it hit me like, ‘Wow, we did this. The goal we set at the beginning of the year, we accomplished that.’

“College baseball is different, the brotherhood you have with those guys. You’re there every single day, you’re there with the same goal — win baseball games. To see the work you put in pay off at the end of the year, it was remarkable. I couldn’t be more proud of my teammates. It was probably the best experience of my life.”

It’s an atmosphere he has found with the Bees, even as a late arrival to the team.

“These guys are some of my best friends now,” Boyette said.

The change in summer plans has worked out.

“It was kind of just up in the air,” Boyette said. “I had an idea of places where I wanted to play, because I wanted to compete and get better this summer. Luckily I found a spot, and I’m glad I wound up here.”

Photo: Corey Boyette watches one of his four home runs this season. (Steve Cirinna/Burlington Bees)