Most baseball coaches spend a lot of time laying awake at night thinking about their lineup. Chico State leadoff hitter Sonny Cortez is helping Head Coach Dave Taylor get a bit more sleep this season. Taylor is certainly not worried about who is going to hit leadoff.
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Cortez is hitting .429 through 12 games as the Wildcats' leadoff hitter and reaching base at a .538 clip. The junior transfer from El Camino Community College was even better this weekend as the Wildcats swept a three-game series at Holy Names University, outscoring the Hawks 35-0 in the process.
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The Wildcat of the Week had three straight two-hit games, batting .667 (6-for-9) with a double, four runs scored, an RBI, a sacrifice bunt, and two stolen bases. He also walked twice for an on-base percentage of .727.
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The center fielder had both of the Wildcats' hits and scored two runs in their series-opening 3-0 win Friday. In Saturday's first game, an 18-0 win, Santos singled and scored in the first, hit an RBI single in the second, drew a walk in the fourth, and laid down a sacrifice bunt in the sixth. In the Wildcats' 14-0 win in the nightcap, Cortez went 2-for-4 with a stolen base (his seventh of the year) and scored his team-leading 14th run.
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It's safe to assume that Taylor will be writing Cortez on top of the lineup card this weekend when the Wildcats open conference play by hosting Cal State Monterey Bay for a four-game series beginning Friday at 2 p.m.
