Hunter Dorraugh (Photo by Alex McCreery)
By Matt Weiner (@MattWeiner20) – BSB Beat Reporter
Not stepping on the foul line chalk is a simple and well known unwritten rule of baseball.
Then there are the more nuanced ones like “don’t become parallel with the infield dirt while looking like you’re in the middle of an indoor skydiving simulator”.
Jackson Forbes learned the latter the hard way with a mouth full of dirt after trampolining off of Hunter Dorraugh.
Fortunately for Forbes, he was the second object that hopelessly trampolined off of Dorraugh into the atmosphere–the first being a baseball.
With one runner on and the Spartans down 3-2 in the fifth inning against Portland, Dorraugh sent a pitch from Portland’s Caleb Franzen sailing over the “Bay 101 Casino” sign in left field at Excite Ballpark.
“I told him to get up and so we got up and I’d say I am a little bigger than Jackson so I kind’ve took him out,” said Dorraugh. “He took it like a champ.”
Dorraugh and Forbes have celebrated together since they were 10 years old, but now the circumstances were raised by a smidge.
It was the sixth-straight game with a home run for Dorraugh, bringing his total to seven which is good for third in the nation.
“It’s always great coming back and seeing that all the guys are fired up and it’s just an adrenaline rush,” said Dorraugh.
Dorraugh’s proclivity for knocking the seams off baseballs earned him a nod for Mountain West Player of the Week.
The method behind the madness is the normal baseball diatribe about taking it one at bat at a time and trying to hit a line drive to center field.
Though not particularly interesting, it’s the vehicle driving an incredible story about a kid in college who didn’t know where he would be a couple months ago.
“Three months ago I was in the transfer portal with no idea about where I was going.”
His absurd slash line of .357/.526/1.740 would’ve been a pipe dream when Dorraugh didn’t know if he’d even be playing at a Division I school.
“I was looking at a Division III and Division II,” said Dorraugh. “Luckily ‘T Walk’ [Thomas Walker] came out to Dodge City, Kan. and gave me an opportunity.”
Not sure if he looked at his dog right after and said “Toto, I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore” like Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz”. Either way, the exasperation mixed with excitment could still be the same.
Sacramento State was Dorraugh’s home for the previous two years playing a total of 33 games and in 2021 reaching base at a .389 clip.
His numbers make it seem like it was a great fit for him, but belief from his coaches was missing internally.
“Previously the school I was at before, I wasn’t the player I am today because of the lack of belief I had in myself.”
Belief is a seed that Dorraugh planted, watered and tilled while also getting some sunlight to naturally grow it from the coaching staff.
“At the end of the day I didn’t have a coach or coaching staff that believed in me as this coaching staff does.”
Adding that his “job out there is to play as hard as possible for them and for them not to regret the decision they’ve made.”
It’s a dually beneficial and remedial business deal: coaches institute unwavering support and confidence in return for unwavering effort.
So far, both sides are raking in profits and on pace to hit their expected year end quota with the Spartans one win shy of hitting their total from last year.