August 5, 2019 at 5:37 p.m.
Franchise record broken
Line Drives
FORT WAYNE — It wasn’t a record he was shooting for.
It hurts.
If the bruises aren’t something to help him remember it, the ball certainly will.
Dwanya Williams-Sutton got hit by pitches twice in an 8-0 Fort Wayne TinCap victory over the West Michigan Whitecaps on Sunday, upping his total this season to 24 times to become the franchise leader in the statistic.
“I just go to the plate and try to get on base for my team,” said the 22-year-old from Wilson, North Carolina. “Get on base and hopefully (my teammates)?can drive me in.
“Pitchers always try to go up and in (in the strike zone) because they think that’s my weak spot … If they keep throwing it in there I’ll keep getting hit the rest of the season.”
The East Carolina University product got hit in the first inning, tying the Fort Wayne franchise record of 23 times in a season set by Jon Schaeffer in 1998 when the team was the Wizards.
Three innings later, Williams-Sutton became the all-time leader after being hit again. It was the fifth game he had been hit more than once, including a painful four times on July 22.
He asked for the record-setting ball so he could have a keepsake.
“I wanted to have a little memorabilia,” he said. “When I grow old and show my kids, hopefully I still have the record when I grow old and have kids.
“It don’t happen every day.”
TinCap manager Anthony Contreras on Williams-Sutton’s knack for getting hit by pitches: “I’ve never seen it that much before in pro baseball. He’s a trooper. He’s tough. He gets hit, he stays in the ball game. I know he doesn’t like that much.”
While he now holds the team record, the Midwest League mark for hit by pitches in a season is 38, set in 2017 by Nick Sinay of the Lansing Lugnuts. It’s a number “DWS” doesn’t hope to reach.
“If I do, props to me, but I’m not trying to do that,”?he said.
It may seem as if he tries to get hit by pitches. But in reality, he’s just trying to get on base. His .416 on-base percentage leads the league.
“The on-base percentage is skyrocketing, and (the San Diego Padres) organization, that’s their key point is getting on base,” Williams-Sutton said. “As long as I can keep doing that and pleasing the organization then hopefully it will look good on my resume trying to move up in the system.”
If the Padres do indeed value that ability, he won’t be in Fort Wayne much longer.
It hurts.
If the bruises aren’t something to help him remember it, the ball certainly will.
Dwanya Williams-Sutton got hit by pitches twice in an 8-0 Fort Wayne TinCap victory over the West Michigan Whitecaps on Sunday, upping his total this season to 24 times to become the franchise leader in the statistic.
“I just go to the plate and try to get on base for my team,” said the 22-year-old from Wilson, North Carolina. “Get on base and hopefully (my teammates)?can drive me in.
“Pitchers always try to go up and in (in the strike zone) because they think that’s my weak spot … If they keep throwing it in there I’ll keep getting hit the rest of the season.”
The East Carolina University product got hit in the first inning, tying the Fort Wayne franchise record of 23 times in a season set by Jon Schaeffer in 1998 when the team was the Wizards.
Three innings later, Williams-Sutton became the all-time leader after being hit again. It was the fifth game he had been hit more than once, including a painful four times on July 22.
He asked for the record-setting ball so he could have a keepsake.
“I wanted to have a little memorabilia,” he said. “When I grow old and show my kids, hopefully I still have the record when I grow old and have kids.
“It don’t happen every day.”
TinCap manager Anthony Contreras on Williams-Sutton’s knack for getting hit by pitches: “I’ve never seen it that much before in pro baseball. He’s a trooper. He’s tough. He gets hit, he stays in the ball game. I know he doesn’t like that much.”
While he now holds the team record, the Midwest League mark for hit by pitches in a season is 38, set in 2017 by Nick Sinay of the Lansing Lugnuts. It’s a number “DWS” doesn’t hope to reach.
“If I do, props to me, but I’m not trying to do that,”?he said.
It may seem as if he tries to get hit by pitches. But in reality, he’s just trying to get on base. His .416 on-base percentage leads the league.
“The on-base percentage is skyrocketing, and (the San Diego Padres) organization, that’s their key point is getting on base,” Williams-Sutton said. “As long as I can keep doing that and pleasing the organization then hopefully it will look good on my resume trying to move up in the system.”
If the Padres do indeed value that ability, he won’t be in Fort Wayne much longer.
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