The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

DAVONN Mackey has hit a hot streak at the plate in the Dominican Summer League and has been the leading run producer for his club in its latest series.

Mackey drove in seven RBI over the last two games for his DSL Athletics as they split games against the DSL Red Sox in Santo Domingo.

In yesterday's 10-4 win for the Athletics, the 17-year-old outfielder went 3-4 with four RBI, scored three runs and added one stolen base.

In his first at-bat, Mackey's two-RBI single gave the Athletics an early lead. He would go on to steal second but was left stranded in scoring position after the Red Sox ended the inning with a strikeout. In the top of the fourth, it was another RBI single for Mackey on a line drive to centrefield and he eventually scored in an inning where the A's would tack on another four runs. He added another RBI single in the top of the eighth.

In game one of the series, Mackey went 1-4 with three RBI in a 13-11 loss. After going 0-7 over the first four games of the season, Mackey's first minor league hit came on a line drive to centrefield to drive in three runs, a part of a six-run inning for the A's.

The DSL A's moved to 5-3 on the season.

The Dominican Summer League is a branch of affiliated minor league baseball which is played in the Dominican Republic, the only Latin American based rookie league. The league was founded in 1985. The 2015 72-game season began June 2 and ends August 25 with the playoffs starting on August 27.

The league consists of 46 teams in six divisions. Each team is affiliated with a different major league franchise with the exception of the cooperative team formed by the Brewers and Indians, each team is affiliated with a different major league franchise with thirteen organisations fielding two teams - the Cardinals, Cubs, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Mets, Phillies, Pirates, Rangers, Rays, Red Sox, Rockies, Royals and Tigers.

Six teams make the playoffs, the winners of each division plus the best runner-up. The two division champions with the best winning percentages receive byes to the semi-finals. Mackey signed with the A's last July during the international signing period. He took a route seldom travelled by Bahamian players and signed out of In the BigInning Baseball Academy in Maracay, Venezuela.

The Grand Bahama native was recently a member of the gold medal-winning team for Grand Bahama Little League in the 16-18 division at the 2017 Bahamas Baseball Federation's Andre Rodgers National Championship.

He became the second Bahamian player to join the Athletics' farm system following Simeon Humes in the late 1960s.

BigInning Academy offers elite level skills training for prospective players on the path to professional baseball. The academy's mission statement published on its website lists it In the BigInning as:

"An organisation of sports character oriented to prepare in an integral way athletes with high conditions and aspirations to arrive at the Major Leagues under a systematised work that allows athletes to fulfil the exigencies of the best baseball in the world.

"To carry out this task, we have personnel specialised in the different physical aspects of baseball practice, as well as support in the area of health and education. The services are oriented to the development and optimum performance of each of our young people, as athletes and citizens, in large part, due to the unsurpassable quality of our services."

The recent impact of Bahamians on the period prompted MLB.com international reporter Jessie Sanchez to call the Bahamas an "emerging market in baseball and a country to definitely keep an eye on."