Three consecutive games without a single base hit. While it's not exactly a Richie Sexson-sized drought, the three-game hitless streak was enough to keep the Lakewood High School senior up at night.
Spears was struggling so badly, in fact, that his batting average on the baseball field dropped all the way below .450.
That, of course, was last week. After another typical game at the plate on Saturday, Spears was back to hitting .470, with an incredible on-base percentage of .580. By Thursday he had pushed his batting average to .477 and his on-base percentage to .610.
When it comes to starting a season, Lakewood's right fielder has been on a tear like no other.
Spears posted a .680 batting average through the first three weeks of the season, and he's gotten only slightly cooler in the ensuing two weeks.
"That's the hottest I've ever seen any hitter in high school," said Larry Delaney, who is in his 17th season as Lakewood's varsity baseball coach. "Everything he was hitting, it was right on the screws. It's not like he was hitting little dinks that were dropping in for hits. They were all bullets."
Spears got off to a quick start to the 2008 baseball season with three hits, including a home run, in Lakewood's second game against Archbishop Murphy. Over the three-game series, he was 6-for-8 with three doubles, a home run and six RBI. Oh, and he also threw out two runners at the plate.
He followed that up with a big offensive series against Cedarcrest, then went 7-for-8 with a pair of home runs in a three-game series against South Whidbey.
"I was seeing the ball real well," Spears said. "I felt comfortable up there (at the plate). I always feel like I'm a great player, but there are times when I struggle because I can't see the ball real well. But I could really see it well (early this season)."
How well?
"The ball looks real big," he said, "and I can see where it's going to break."
After a somewhat disappointing junior season in which he hit only .343, Spears put in extra time at his friend's batting cage over the fall and winter. He admitted that Delaney is right in his assessment that Spears "tried to do too much" last year, and now the senior is trying to stay relaxed in the batter's box.
That's easier said than done, especially with the way teams have pitched to him as of late. After his initial surge, Spears has seen a shift in philosophy when it comes to opposing pitches.
"When he realized that teams were pitching him a little differently, there was a couple of weeks of an adjustment period," Delaney said. "And now he's made that. So it will be interesting to see how he finishes the season."
Over the weekend, Spears started to see the ball well again. And, unfortunately for his upcoming opponents, the Lakewood senior thinks his brief slump might be a thing of the past.
"All it takes is that one hit to get out of it," Spears said.
If Spears can get back into a groove, the interest from NCAA schools might continue to mount. Delaney said that the University of Washington and Washington State are among the schools who are interested in having Spears walk on, but for now his best option might be the junior-college route.
"The big recruiting push for four-year schools is during a player's junior year," Delaney said. "UW and WSU are pretty locked into their recruiting class, so he might have to be open to going to junior college and seeing what happens from there."
If someone gives Spears a chance, Delaney added, that school might benefit in the long run.
