Dash's Osik hits for cycle in front of family

Although he grew up 78 miles away, Tyler Osik had never been to Coney Island before Tuesday.

But after combining for seven knocks in his first two games -- including hitting for the cycle in the second contest -- at High-A Brooklyn’s famed home -- the White Sox prospect was right at home. Osik’s milestone came in Winston-Salem’s 8-0 victory on Wednesday at Maimonides Park.

“It feels amazing,” he said. “Especially because I'm from Long Island, and to do it in front of my family and friends is so cool.”

With 10-15 familiar faces in the crowd for Game 1 of the series, Osik went 3-for-4 with a home run. The following day, the Central Florida product had five to six family members and friends there to watch him hit for the cycle for the first time in his life -- and it only took eight total pitches.

“I treat every day the same pretty much. No matter what, I do my routine and go about baseball the same,” he said. “But I think having my family and friends there just locked me in a little more because I wanted to make it worth it for them to come.”

After leading off the second with a double to left, Osik cranked a first-pitch, two-run jack to left-center in the fourth for his eighth long ball of the season. But the day hit another level when the 25-year-old backstop raced to his first triple since 2019 in the fifth.

Osik laced an 0-1 offering to “the big gap out there in right-center,” as Alex Ramirez tracked it down. But once he saw the Mets’ No. 4 prospect bobble it, Osik kept going, sliding into third before the ball even got to the infield.

“It felt good,” the No. 5 hitter said. “To be honest, I never really thought I would [hit for the cycle] just because I don't think speed's really a part of my game, so getting the triple was the hard part. But luckily I did it.”

At that point, Osik knew all he needed was the single. Also knowing he would likely get just one more at-bat, the 2019 Draft pick continued his theme of being aggressive. And before he could even think about if he would stop at first no matter where the ball went, Osik knocked a first-pitch base hit to right to start the eighth.

“Stay here, stay here,” shouted Colson Montgomery, acting as the first-base coach.

And with the advice of the No. 1 White Sox prospect, Osik stayed at first and sealed the first Dash cycle since Steele Walker accomplished the feat in 2019.

The Winston-Salem dugout broke out in cheers as they shouted for the ball. Osik plans to do something special with the ball, the lineup card and the photo he took with manager Lorenzo Bundy.

The milestone comes amid a breakout campaign for Osik, who is batting .312/.391/.455 with 43 RBIs in his second Winston-Salem stint. After a strong pro debut in 2019, the son of former Major Leaguer Keith Osik was limited to 27 games across 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic-canceled season, a strained hamstring and a broken hamate bone.

“[Hitting for the cycle] just means a lot,” he said. “I was coming off a pretty rough year last year, and I just put in a lot of work in the offseason. And for it to pay off and I'm just having a pretty good year this year, it feels good.”

Of course, being a catcher, Osik also wanted to point to the strong game his battery mates had. Garrett Schoenle worked around a hit and two walks with eight strikeouts for four frames. Everhett Hazelwood (3-0) and Nick Gallagher both added two hitless frames before Alejandro Mateo held onto the shutout in the ninth.

“It was also a great game for the pitching staff,” he said. “They wound up throwing two-hit shutout, and we're off to a good start this week. So hopefully we finish up strong.”