For the second consecutive season, Columbia Academy slugger Slade Wilks has earned The Columbian-Progress Offensive Player of the Year.
Wilks, a rising senior with light tower power, said it’s an honor to receive the award in back-to-back years.
“I know with all the other Marion County schools there’s a lot of good baseball being played, especially a lot of good hitting, so it means a lot,” he said. “I just had a good year. A lot of hard work went into being able to win hitter of the year two years in a row.”
While his junior numbers in 2019 weren’t quite as good as his sophomore campaign, Wilks was still far ahead of the competition with the stats he produced at the dish. The Southern Miss commit crushed 12 home runs, including two grand slams, hit .414 with a .600 on-base percentage, drove in 29 runs, scored 36 runs and stole 13 bags.
Wilks accomplished all that even though he went through an uncharacteristic two-week stretch where he went just 2-for-15. He said he had to make an adjustment to how pitchers were attacking him because everyone who faced the Cougars knew about the guy with the powerful left-handed stroke.
“I wasn’t seeing many fastballs at all, and I was getting myself out a lot,” he said.
Over the final seven games of the season, though, Wilks turned it around and went 8-for-16 with four homers, three doubles and 9 RBI while drawing six walks.
“I kind of regrouped, started accepting more walks and started seeing more pitches, and I started getting better pitches to hit once I got ahead in the count,” he said of the adjustment.
Wilks recently participated in the Under Armour All-American Showcase in Atlanta and will find out if he’s among the Top 40 players in the country that get to play in the All-American game at Wrigley Field in Chicago July 22 in the first week of July. He’s heading to Arizona next week for the Perfect Game All-American Showcase and is hoping to be selected for both. The Perfect Game All-American Classic is August 12 at Petco Park in San Diego.
Wilks was one of just four Mississippi players named to the Perfect Game first-team Preseason Underclass All-America team in March as one of the Top 100 players in the country.
Since he has been a vital part of CA’s success since he was an eighth grader, the slugger with 44 career home runs said he has taken to improving between the ears during games to continue his development.
“One of the things I try to do is be a student of the game. When I’m in the dugout, I try to pay attention to how the pitcher is trying to pitch certain batters, what he likes to throw more than others, what he feels comfortable with, if he’s comfortable throwing first-pitch curveball and things like that. I like to watch and learn a lot,” he said.
Wilks added he improved his opposite field approach in 2019 and hit more homers to left field, but he’s going to focus on taking a step forward as a pitcher for next season.
“I have a good arm; I just have to get where I can be a guy on the mound for us. For us to be as good as we can be, I need to be that on the mound,” he said. “That’s what I’m working for.”
The hard-throwing righty struck out 40 batters in just 25 2/3 innings but issued 24 walks that led to a 4.09 ERA. He said cutting down the freebies will be a big step forward.
Pictured Above: CA's Slade Wilks hits one of his 12 homers on the season. | Photo by Joshua Campbell
