Hunter Boyd making a name for himself in the West Coast League
It wasn’t all that long ago when Hunter Boyd pitched the Columbia Basin River Dogs into the championship game at the Senior Babe Ruth World Series with a dominating performance in the semifinals.
Now the big right-hander from Moses Lake is testing that big arm against the best hitters in the West Coast League as a member of the Wenatchee AppleSox starting rotation. He is currently 3-2 with an ERA of 4.65 in 48 innings pitched. Boyd, who threw two complete games in the Senior Babe Ruth League World Series last summer, including 12 strikeouts against Wayne County, Mo., has 48 strikeouts and allowed 54 hits pitching in the WCL.
“It’s been a blast. We’re pretty much living on the bus, live in our uniform and go to work every day,” Boyd said in a telephone interview from Port Angeles. “It’s just crazy how busy it is. It’s not minor league ball, but it’s pretty much like the schedule.
“I’ll tell ya what, the fans in this league are brutal. They get a couple of beers in them and love to support their home team by getting on us.”
He might not know what it’s like to wear a Red Sox uniform in Yankee Stadium, but he’s out there living the dream and throwing the rock.
The AppleSox (23-10, 8-8 second half), who are in their 18th season, are currently in second place, 3 1/2 games back in the WCL North Division standings with a little over a week remaining in the regular season. They finished up in Port Angeles on Thursday and head home to face Walla Walla over the weekend.
Boyd still has the five-pitch repertoire that earned him a place on the NWAC-champion Yakima Valley staff his freshman season. For the most part, he said, the AppleSox staff has not altered his pitching mechanics to step up at the next level.
“Obviously the hitters in this league are a lot better because they’re coming from D-I and D-II programs. But you can’t give them too much credit. They’re just another guy I’m trying to get out,” Boyd said. “I have the same five pitches — fastball, curveball, slider, changeup and knuckle — that I had when I was little.
“But I’ve been in the gym every day getting stronger and staying healthy, which allows me to throw better. With my breaking stuff, I’ve learned to locate a little better, where to release the ball. I work that breaking stuff a little more than when I was younger.”
The AppleSox roster includes players from around the country, prominent programs like UCLA, Nevada Reno, Gonzaga, Washington State and others. Boyd stepped right in and earned a spot on the starting rotation.
“Our team, there’s probably four or five local kids and the rest are from California, Arizona, Nevada … all over,” he said. “It’s fun to have a chance to compete against players from around the country and meet new people. You can get drafted from this league and the plan is to play as long as I can.”
Eight AppleSox alumni have reached the major leagues. Three currently play professionally at the Major League level, Jason Hammel (Chicago Cubs), Cole Gillespie (Florida Marlins), Marco Gonzales (St. Louis Cardinals) and Blaine Hardy (Detroit Tigers).
Boyd says he’ll chase the dream as far as it goes. In the meantime, he will be a junior at College of Idaho in Caldwell, Idaho, next fall where he’ll pitch for the four-year program and earn his degree in criminal justice.
“I must be doing something right to be able to play at this level,” he said. “I’ll continue to study criminal justice. As long as baseball’s there, I’ll continue to play and when that day comes, hopefully not too soon, I’ll go on to the police academy. I want to be a sheriff some day.”
Rodney Harwood is a sports writer at the Columbia Basin Herald and can be reached at rharwood@columbiabasinherald.com