July 3rd, 2017
ALBANY, N.Y. - In week four of the season Nick Estrella (Azusa Pacific) hit .455 in three games and has been named the Spotlight Player of the Week.
Estrella helped lead the Dutchmen to a 2-1 week that was shortened due to three rainouts.
The Tucson, Arizona native racked up five hits in 11 at bats, scored four runs, notched two RBI’s and hit a solo home run.
In the Dutchmen’s first game of the week against the Oneonta Outlaws on June 28th, Estrella went 1-4 with one RBI and two walks in Albany’s 7-5 win. He is third on the team with 11 walks.
The next day in a loss against Saugerties, Estrella went 2-3 and scored two runs in the 11-10 defeat.
The Dutchmen trailed 10-2 in the loss to the Stallions but came all the way back from an eight run deficit to tie the game in the ninth. Estrella says that although the epic comeback came up short Thursday, he knows his team will never give up.
“We fought the whole way and we know that we’re good enough to hang with anyone and we’re going to have a good season so we just have to keep playing hard,” Estrella said.
In the final game of the week, the Dutchmen took down the Amsterdam Mohawks and its 12 game winning streak. In the 5-3 win Estrella went 2-4 with a solo home run, two runs scored, two RBIs and a stolen base.
Head Coach Nick Davey says all the competition in the middle infield is pushing Estrella to be the best player that he can be.
“You learn best from the guys that you take reps from every day, there the ones that are pushing you,” Davey said.
Estrella is now batting .302 on the season (19-63) and is the team leader in RBI’s and in a tie for the team lead in home runs with two.
Coach Davey says he’s noticed that Estrella always puts himself in a position to be successful.
“I love the way that he mentally and physically prepares himself for every game, and you know he will be a guy that I use as an example in teams to come as ways that you go about it to make yourself better,” Davey said.
Estrella is also involved with the Dutchmen’s Phillips Hardware Baseball Buddies and says that hanging out with younger kids before games helps keep him calm.
“Yeah it’s definitely fun and it helps me kind of ease up a little bit because with baseball everything is so serious all the time and so it kind of calms us down a little bit and just humbles us,” Estrella said.
Estrella and the rest of the Dutchmen are back in action Monday evening traveling to Amsterdam to take on the Mohawks with first pitch set for 6:35 p.m.
