Keys' Mountcastle goes deep three times

After seeing a teammate record the first home run hat trick in the 28-year history of Class A Advanced Frederick on Wednesday, Ryan Mountcastle felt no pressure to do the same thing.
But matching the milestone in the same week gave the Orioles' No. 4 prospect plenty to smile about.
"It was pretty cool that he [Austin Hays] did it the other day and I happened to do it today," Mountcastle said. "It was pretty funny. We made a joke out of it. It was cool to do that with another teammate."

Gameday box score
Mountcastle belted three solo shots in the Keys' 9-5 victory over Buies Creek on Friday at Nymeo Field. The 20-year-old has 11 long balls, tying him with Salem's Michael Chavis for second in the Carolina League. Mountcastle added a single on a four-hit night, and is second on the circuit with a .342 batting average.  
Hays, the No. 7 Orioles prospect, hit his ninth homer in the third inning. Mountcastle immediately followed with his second roundtripper off Matt Bower (2-2). 
"I'm really fortunate to be able to work with these two guys, both of those guys are outstanding hitters." Frederick hitting coach Kyle Moore said. "Not only are they mechanically sound, when you look at these guys on film, when you slow it down, they're exciting. Everything that top-end hitters do, they have the same exact movement. On top of that, they really have great approaches at the plate."

With one out in the opening frame, Mountcastle took a first-pitch ball from Bower. It was the only pitch that Mountcastle didn't swing at in the contest, seeing a total of five in four at-bats. Of the 37 batters the Keys sent to the plate, 17 offered at the first pitch.
"We never go into a game with any sort of scouting report to swing at the first pitch, but one thing that we do is that we're on time with the fastball and we're swinging," Moore said. "Every pitch, -- not just the first pitch -- we're swinging until we're not swinging."
The first-round pick in the 2015 Draft deposited a 1-0 fastball over the fence in left-center in the first inning. The back-to-back jacks by Hays and Mountcastle in the third gave the Keys a 3-2 lead. 
"We're just trying to do our best out there and play hard. Whatever happens happens," Mountcastle said. "It's pretty sick to go back-to-back."
Leading off the fifth against Bowers, Mountcastle ripped a grounder past a diving Anibal Sierra at shortstop for a base hit. He scored his third run on a sacrifice fly by Ademar Rifaela.
"I just try to hit the ball hard and do some damage," Mountcastle said. "I don't know. I just saw the ball well today and hit it."

Facing Yoanys Quiala with one out in the sixth, Mountcastle caught another fastball and completed the Carolina League's fifth three-homer game in 2017.
"That's one thing that helps us be aggressive on the fastballs in the zone," the 31-year-old Moore said. "That's what Mounty did tonight. He was in the box ready to hit and ... put the barrel right where he needed to put it."
Hays' homer was his only hit in five at-bats. He is fourth on the circuit with a .318 batting average, trailing Chavis, Mountcastle and Frederick second baseman Stephen Wilkerson, who sat out Friday.