Davis sparks Shuckers' romp with five hits

Johnny Davis swung at the second pitch he saw on Wednesday, and the Biloxi Shuckers knew immediately it was going to be a good night.
The Brewers outfield prospect registered a career-high five hits, was robbed of a sixth and drove in three runs to spark the Shuckers to a 13-0 rout of Jacksonville at MGM Park.

"[The first pitch] was kind of down the middle away because they know I'm not swinging at the first pitch of the game," Davis said of his initial look at Jacksonville starter Joe Gunkel. "The second pitch of the game, they went fastball in and I just reacted and turned on it."
Biloxi's leadoff man clobbered his fourth homer of the season to right-center and it had an immediate effect.

"Hitting is super-contagious because most of hitting here is all about being confident. And if your leadoff hitter can lead off the game with a home run -- I don't hit home runs that often -- but if I can lead off the game with a home run, all my other teammates can just sit back and be like, 'We're going to hit today,'" Davis said.
The 27-year-old was just getting started. He bounced a run-scoring single through the right side in the second and added singles to left in the fourth and sixth. Davis lined another RBI single to center as part of Biloxi's five-run seventh for his first five-hit game since his days at West Los Angeles College and a bounceback performance from a hitless game on Tuesday.
Gameday box score
"I was just trying to have a good at-bat all night," the switch-hitter said. "Before the game, I was just worried about having good at-bats. I wasn't really worried about getting hits because I knew they would come. If I go 0-for-4, I think it's kind of impossible to get me 0-for-8. I don't think a team can get me out eight straight times, so when I go into that next game, I'm pretty confident."
The 2013 22nd-round pick has been surging from month to month, bumping his average from .171 in April to .227 in May, .296 in June and .322 in July.
"It's all pitch selection," he said. "We're all in the Minor Leagues. We can all hit, so if you can swing at strikes, you're only as good as the pitches you swing at. I've been swinging at good pitches, taking the bad ones. I knew it would all come together, and it's been coming together lately."

Riding a perfect line, Davis got a chance at a professional baseball rarity -- a six-hit game. In the eighth, with his team up by 13 runs, he strode to the plate against Jumbo Shrimp shortstop KC Serna, working on the mound in mop-up duty. Davis rifled a line drive back to the mound, but Serna made a leaping catch it to retire him for the first time all night.
"All the guys were laughing that a position player got up there," Davis said. "They were like, 'No shot [a regular pitcher] catches that ball. A regular pitcher doesn't catch that ball. How did a position player get you out?' They were all laughing about it. I went up to that at-bat just thinking, 'If he throws a fastball here, just smash it. Treat him like a pitcher. Don't go up there and underestimate him.'"
Davis accounted for a quarter of Biloxi's season-high 20 hits. The Shuckers tallied five doubles and three homers, including a three-run blast from 2012 first-round pick Clint Coulter.
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"I love being the spark plug to try to get the boys going," Davis said. "And we got it going tonight."
Biloxi starter Freddy Peralta, the Brewers' No. 11 prospect, allowed one hit and five walks over four innings, striking out five and throwing 92 pitches.