How a summer in New England led to Slade Wilks’ emergence for Southern Miss baseball
Everyone from the coaching staff, the fans and his teammates knew Slade Wilks had a world of potential in his powerful swing.
And all it took for the young outfielder to unlock it was a trip to Rhode Island.
The Columbia, Mississippi, native made just 65 plate appearances his freshman season and displayed flashes of enormous power around long stretches of futile at-bats.
Six of his nine hits went for extra bases, but he struck out 18 times and drew just five walks.
Following the season, Wilks made a trip to one of the many summer league teams to which college athletes swarm in the offseason. He landed with the Ocean State Waves in Rhode Island. There, he proceeded to rake.
“I went up to summer league in Rhode Island and was kind of able to clear my head, kind of a fresh start,” Wilks told the Sun Herald. “Kind of do what I’ve always done, just start hitting again. I felt a lot more comfortable up there. It helped me get away and make a fresh start.”
Though he did have a 33.3 percent strikeout rate, Wilks punished pitchers with 12 extra base hits out of 36 total and left with an .806 OPS.
Southern Miss head coach Scott Berry noticed the difference when Wilks returned for fall ball.
“He went off last summer and had a good summer in a collegiate league,” Berry said. “He came back and got quality at-bats. ... That’s what the summer is for, those guys who don’t get a lot of at-bats go off and get them, learn and use that experience moving forward. He brought it back to us in the fall and we’ve been working on it ever since.”
The results have been promising. Through about 80 plate appearances, Wilks has a .927 OPS, a 115-point increase from last season. His walk rate has improved dramatically, and he’s tripled his doubles output with a team-high nine so far.
One thing the man with the highest exit velocity on the team has not yet done this year is hit one over the fence — and everyone is waiting for it.
“I get that question a fair amount,” Wilks said. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t surprised, but I’m not pressing at all. I’m doing fine. I think it will come sooner rather than later. Not going to rush it, it’ll come.”
Berry believes there’s still plenty of work to do with Wilks’ swing, and that may be part of the reason why he’s not yet triggered the Pete Taylor Park light show.
“He’s not quite there yet, he’s not where I want him to be,” Berry said. “But the swing is starting to get a little bit more flat ... he fouls a lot of baseballs back. He’s right there on it but he’s got to flatten that swing out a little bit more.”
Wilks’ emergence has come at a good time. With Charlie Fischer’s slumping start, Berry has been able to slide Wilks into the designated hitter spot and create production. It also helps that Carson Paetow has backfilled Wilks’ position in right field and become of the more valuable hitters in the lineup.
The two second-year players have been a boon for a lineup that has seen significant drop-off in its offensive numbers from a year ago.
Southern Miss is off to good start in conference play, though, scoring nine and six runs in two games against Florida Atlantic. In the Saturday contest, the Golden Eagles drew seven walks, four hit-by-pitches and struck out just twice.
“We have so much room to improve,” Wilks said. “We did a lot better (Saturday) than we have lately in situational baseball. ... We have a really good offense and when we get clicking it’s going to be scary for other teams.”
