Threshers' Hall homers twice in FSL debut

A change in teams, league and level of competition certainly didn't faze Darick Hall. Neither did the 4:30 a.m. wake-up call and the flight down to Florida after his promotion from the Class A South Atlantic League.
It's been that type of season for the 22-year-old.

Making his Florida State League debut, Hall homered in both games of Class A Advanced Clearwater's doubleheader split with Charlotte on Tuesday at Charlotte Sports Park. He also doubled, totaled three RBIs and scored twice in the twinbill for the Threshers, who won the nightcap, 3-2.
It was a productive yet unsurprising start for Hall, who was named SAL Most Valuable Player earlier Tuesday after hitting .272/.340/.533 with a club-record and league-leading 27 homers and 96 RBIs with Lakewood. He punctuated his candidacy as the circuit's top player with a two-homer, seven-RBI performance last week.
Gameday box score
"Well, the day started out around 4:30 [this morning] when I left my host family [in New Jersey] and took off for Florida," Hall said. "I got the call yesterday and, needless to say, it was really exciting. It was something I really wasn't expecting so late in the season, so it was cool. When I heard, I had a feeling I'd be in the lineup today, so I did everything I could to be as ready as possible.
"I tried my best to just leave my phone alone. Family members, old teammates and coaches were texting me. It really was fun, but I just tried to not let the award be a distraction today. I knew I had a job to do for Clearwater. We're making a playoff push and everything is critical right now."
Hall doubled to right field in his first FSL at-bat in the opener and lined out in his second. After Phillies No. 13 prospect Cornelius Randolph went deep leading off the sixth, the Dallas Baptist University product followed with his first homer of the day over the center field fence in the Threshers' 8-2 loss.
"Randolph's homer came on a fastball, so I had a feeling [Charlotte starter Brandon Lawson] would go more off-speed with me," the Arizona native said. "In my first at-bat, I hit the fastball for a double, so this time he threw me four straight changeups. I was getting more and more locked in with each one and I put a good swing on that last pitch."

Hall flied out in his first plate appearance in the second game but capped Clearwater's three-run third inning with his second roundtripper, a two-run shot to center. He popped out in his final at-bat of the day.
"It's one of those moments when your new teammates congratulate you and you just feel that special vibe," he said of the second homer. "I felt that after I touched home plate and they were all waiting for me in the dugout. At that moment, I realized it was really special and you just want to show what you can do and not feel like an outsider. I wanted to step in right away and perform. It turned out to be a special day."
Selected in the 14th round of last year's Draft, Hall said he didn't have any specific numbers in mind for his first full-season campaign.
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"It really wasn't something I thought about," he said. "You have goals as a player, but instead of focusing on specific results, I made sure I got enough rest and I tried to be as consistent as possible mentally each day. Try not to ride the highs too much and not let a bad game snowball into more than a few. That was a big part of my plan coming into this year. As any ballplayer will tell you, we all shoot for that consistency."
Clearwater starter JoJo Romero (4-2) allowed two runs and scattered five hits over five innings in the win. The 16th-ranked Phillies prospect struck out seven and walked two.
Peter Maris went 3-for-4 with a homer and two RBIs in the opener for the Stone Crabs.