Kirby's perfect night sets off Volcanoes

In 23 games in the South Atlantic League to start the year, Ryan Kirby batted .220/.301/.366, but showed marked improvement over the final nine contests. Now back in the Northwest League, the first baseman is using that experience to put a stamp on his current team.
The San Francisco infield prospect Kirby went 5-for-5 and drove in five runs, setting personal bests for hits and RBIs, as Class A Short Season Salem-Keizer downed Everett, 9-5, on Thursday night.

"Being able to play in (Class A) Augusta, that experience there has really helped me here," Kirby said. "Understanding what the pitchers are trying to do to me and just really learning how to go up there and stick to my approach, be able to learn from the pitchers and be able to know their patterns and predict how they're going to pitch to me, that's big."
Gameday box score
In his final nine-game stretch with the GreenJackets, Kirby went 10-for-32 with three doubles, two triples and a homer while batting .313/.371/.625 over that span. Success against Sally League pitching gave the University of San Diego product confidence returning to Salem-Keizer, where he played 53 games last season.
"In Augusta, the pitchers there kind of know how to pitch a little better," Kirby said. "Here, there's a lot of fastballs. It's just being able to be aggressive and not miss my pitch. That was big for me just to go up there and be aggressive and trust myself knowing that I've been able to hit better pitching in Augusta.
"Towards the end, I started hitting pretty good there. I just carried that over when I got here."
Kirby punished AquaSox pitchers all night Thursday. The 2016 12th-round pick singled to right field in the first inning, roped a two-run single to right in the third, knocked in another run with a single to center in the fifth, bounced a single to right in the seventh and capped his night with a two-out, two-run double to left in the eighth.
"I knew they were throwing a lefty (Everett starter Michael Suarez), so that kind of helps me with my approach, keeping my shoulder in," said Kirby, a left-handed hitter. "I noticed my first at-bat that I was seeing the ball pretty well. First pitch, I got a hit. All the next at-bats, I really felt like I was seeing the ball. That was the most important thing for me."
The Volcanoes went 5-for-16 with runners in scoring position with three hits coming from Kirby.
"I always say hitting's easier when you've got guys on base," he said. "Whenever I see a guy in scoring position, I know my job's easier. I've just got to put it in play somewhere hard and something good's going to happen. It's way easier when there's guys on base compared to when there's no one on, that's for sure."
The Volcanoes arrived in Everett on Thursday but didn't show any ill effects from their overnight bus ride from Oregon. The visitors scored a run in the first and three in the third and never trailed.

"We got off to a good start early and I think that kind of set the tone for us," the California native said. "It was a travel day for us, so that was important. I just really feel like the whole team came together today, got some good at-bats strung together. It was a good team win for us.
"Baseball's a lot more fun when you're putting runs on the board. That definitely got the energy up and definitely helped us, helped our pitching staff to give them some run support."
Kirby's showing in his third week back in the Northwest League seems to be evidence things are working for the 22-year-old, who's batting .333/.402/.481 for the Volcanoes.
"I'm just going to roll with it, use that confidence I got today and try to do the same thing tomorrow," he said. "It's the same thing every day. I'm not really going to change. I'm just going to go with my same approach and see what happens."