Quakes' Wong caps season with near-cycle

Connor Wong nearly added a cycle to what already had been a breakthrough season ... not that he was thinking about it.
The 16th-ranked Dodgers prospect homered, doubled twice and singled -- tying a career high with four hits -- Monday as Class A Advanced Rancho Cucamonga outslugged Inland Empire, 15-11, in their season finale at LoanMart Field. He drove in four runs and scored twice.

Gameday box score
The game featured a combined 36 hits, with four coming from second-ranked Angels prospectBrandon Marsh. The No. 79 overall prospect also homered, doubled twice and singled. He crossed the plate four times and knocked in three as part of his fifth professional four-hit game.
Wong had a chance at the cycle in his final at-bat in the eighth, needing a triple. He doubled, but never thought about trying to stretch.
"No, I didn't think about it because they had a position player [catcher Franklin Navarro] throwing and I was just kind of more focused on him," Wong said. "Maybe if it was one of their relief guys throwing, I'd have thought about it. It didn't cross my mind until after and the dugout was yelling at me. I didn't know why at first and then I realized I could have hit for the cycle."
The Quakes racked up 22 hits, including four singles from No. 30 prospect Omar Estevez. Jared Walker belted a two-run homer and drove in five runs while Cody Thomas was a dinger shy of the cycle.
Wong went deep to right field in Rancho Cucamonga's four-run second inning. After the 66ers put up seven runs across the third and fourth innings, the Quakes rallied in the fifth on Walker's homer. Rancho Cucamonga added two more in the sixth, punctuated by Wong's RBI double to right that plated Cristian Santana.
The long ball gave Wong 19 for the season, after he hit five a year ago in just 97 at-bats with Class A Great Lakes.
"I knew there's some power there, but it's not something I try and do," he said. "I got myself in trouble in the middle of the season trying to continue the pace I was on. It was just taking me away from my game, which is being a good hitter. When I got back to doing that, the power starting showing up again. ... [I'm] mature enough to realize that I'm not going to hit 30 to 40 home runs. I might have a hot streak here or there, but I've just got to stick to my game and be mature about that and have a good approach."
The four-hit game marked his second of the season and the third of his career.
The Quakes scored five insurance runs in the eighth, which turned out to crucial when Marsh belted a two-run homer to right in the ninth.

The 2016 second-round pick lined a double to center to lead off the game. After reaching on a forceout to short and scoring in the third, Marsh doubled in a run to left and crossed the plate on Jordan Zimmerman's 11th homer in the fourth. Two innings later, he singled to center and came home on Julian Leon's forceout. The 20-year-old outfielder whiffed to end the seventh before belting his seventh dinger of the season for his third four-hit game this year.
Wong had one of the best seats to see the Georgia native.
"I was impressed with him the first time I saw him," he said. "I think he's a really good player [and] he's a great guy. I talk to him a lot. He's got incredible talent. I think as long as he keeps working hard, he's got a bright future ahead of him."
Los Angeles' No. 26 prospect Jordan Sheffield (1-3) picked up the win after a scoreless inning. Carlos Salazar (0-3) took the loss after allowing a run on three walks in one frame.
Rancho Cucamonga starts the playoffs Wednesday at Lancaster. And Wong, for one, is ready.
"I don't think there's any nerves, but I'm definitely excited," he said. "Obviously we missed playoffs last year at Great Lakes, but we have a solid ballclub here. We're hot and this is the right time to be hot."