Reid Roper had been in a bit of a slump at home the last two weeks, but in his last three games at Mayo Field the Rochester Honkers infielder has been stinging the ball.
"The second half I've been kind of struggling at home," Roper admitted.
But he seems to be snapping out of the slump just nicely. Roper had three hits and a home run on Sunday and then two hits on Tuesday. The left-handed hitting second baseman launched a grand slam on Wednesday to help power the Honkers to an 8-5 victory over the Duluth Huskies.
"I was seeing the ball pretty well my first at-bat," Roper said of his walk in the second inning. "In my second at-bat I was feeling pretty confident and I got a fastball."
Roper, who plays college ball at Illinois, did not miss his pitch as he pulled the ball over the wall in right field to plate four runs and cap a six-run Honkers third inning.
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"That was awesome, he really deserves it," Honkers winning pitcher Will Bamesberger said. "He works hard and it was great to see."
Roper is playing in his fourth season with the Honkers and Wednesday's was his 12th career home run with Rochester. He nearly had another homer in the fifth inning when he flew out up against the wall in right field.
"I feel like I hit the second one better," Roper said. "It was a little more off the barrel (of the bat)."
Roper's second homer of the season and Bamesberger's six-inning effort (three earned runs) helped the Honkers snap a four-game losing streak.
"Hopefully it gets us on a (winning) streak," Roper said. "We have a lot of home games in July."
