Player Profile: Mike Ahmed

     Mike Ahmed is a 6'2" 195lb. INF/RHP for the College of the Holy Cross. He enjoyed an excellent season this past year batting .295 in 207 AB, and drawing 31 walks. His hitting statistics become more impressive when you note his .396 on-base percentage, and his .488 slugging percentage. Mike finished 4th in the conference in Runs Scored, 5th in the conference in Doubles, and led the conference in home runs. He has started his Bourne Braves season on fire! At a time when the league's pitching is supposed to be dominating, because the hitters are adjusting to the wooden bats, this Brave has been on top everything. Through 4 games he is batting .467. He has compiled 15 at-bats; hitting a triple, home run, 4 RBIs, and drawing two walks. At this rate, he appears to be a fixture at the top of the Braves order.

     After seeing several batting practices and at-bats, I noticed that Mike does an excellent job of finding every hole in  the field. In fact, several people have commented that he flat-out "rakes." This is evident through his hitting chart. Two things to note in this chart: 1. He equally distributes flyballs, line-drives, and groundballs 2. He uses the middle of the field well (biggest hole in the field).  He makes excellent contact because his approach is very balanced. He keeps his front foot open with what I like to call a neutral stance. This means his feet are at a comfortable distance and his weight is distributed evenly. As the pitch arrives: his hands stay high, he uses the landing of his front foot to set his hands, his weight stays balanced throughout his swing, and his hands take a very efficient, direct path to the baseball. I showed the swing three times in slow motion, so the viewer can see how he does an excellent job of "punching" his hands at the ball, and allowing the head of his bat to explode at the point of contact. Mike Ahmed has a quick, compact swing, and has shown the ability to drive the ball out of the park. At this point in the season, all he has done is rake.