Orem's Jackson continues power surge

Jeremiah Jackson looked like the champion in the Rookie Advanced Owlz's Home Run Derby on Monday.
The Angels' No. 7 prospect slugged two homers and matched a career high with four RBIs in Rookie Advanced Orem's 12-5 win over Grand Junction at Home of the OWLZ.

The righty shortstop smacked the first pitch he saw from southpaw Helcris Olivarez over the wall in center field for a solo homer to open the scoring. Jackson said they'd faced Olivarez before and he remembered the lefty's tendencies.
"I just remember him throwing a bunch of fastballs," he said, "so I just sat in there and waited for a heater to come. He left it out over the middle of the plate and I just let everything take control from there."
After a sacrifice fly to right in the fourth, Jackson took a smashed a 1-0 offering by lefty Alejandro Mejia for a two-run homer to right in the fifth.
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"It was middle-in a little, it stayed pretty flat and I let everything work out," the 2018 second-round pick said.
It was his eighth dinger of the season, half of which were hit in the past five days. Jackson said he's been tinkering with his approach at the plate and getting his stance right.

"It's been a process that I've been working on for a little while," he said. "I've always had a pretty good bit of power, but the main goal is stay consistent with the power and hit the ball all over the place, from foul pole to foul pole."
Jackson belted two solo shots in Thursday's road win over Grand Junction. In 22 Pioneer games, the 6-foot right-handed hitter has batted .250 with 13 extra-base hits, 22 RBIs and two steals. Jackson added his hitting process is more important that his newfound slugging prowess.
"If I didn't hit any home runs and had good process numbers and I was hitting the ball hard, then I'd be fine," he said. "Sometimes you get one and you get under it a little bit and it flies out."
In 41 games last season split between Orem and the Rookie-level Arizona League, the Alabama native batted .254/.314/.491 with seven homers, 23 RBIs and 10 steals.

Will Wilson, the 15th overall pick in the June Draft, walloped a two-run homer to center, his third dinger in 12 games.
"He's really intelligent about the game, knows his strengths," Jackson said. "He's a good guy to talk to, especially being a little bit older and having that college experience."
The 20-year-old talks to Jackson about his at-bats and different situations, scenarios and counts.
"It's helped me with my approach at the plate," he said.
On a three-hit night, Jose Varrier went yard as the Owlz accumulated a season high in runs.