The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

Lucius Fox Jr helped lead his Omaha Storm Chasers to a win in the regular season finale and the club now shifts its focus to the postseason in AAA baseball.

Fox hit one of the Storm Chasers four home runs on the night en route to a 10-3 win over the Iowa I-Cubs Sunday at Werner Park in Papillon, Nebraska.

On the first pitch of the game, Fox homered to left centre off Dakota Mekkes for the first run of the game and his third of the season. He returned in the fourth inning to hit an RBI double off reliever Jackson McLelland to plate Travis Jones and give the Storm Chasers a 6-3 lead.

At the plate, Fox finished 2-4 with two RBI and two runs scored while defensively he played both shortstop and centrefield.

Omaha (66-54) finished the regular season 12 games over .500 and has clinched the franchise’s first winning season since 2015.

The Storm Chasers will now conclude the season in the AAA “Final Stretch” which features 10 games - a five-game series against the Indianapolis Indians followed by another five game series against the I Cubs.

According to the MiLB “a 2021 regular season champion will be crowned in both the AAA East and the AAA West based on highest overall winning percentage through the originally scheduled championship season.

Additionally, among all 30 clubs, a single 2021 AAA Final Stretch Winner will be crowned across both leagues based on highest overall winning percentage during a 10-game schedule immediately following the originally scheduled championship season.”

Earlier in the season, Fox became the eighth Bahamian to join a Major League Baseball roster for the regular season. His brief call-up lasted just a single game when the Kansas City Royals announced his promotion on July 30, hours ahead of a 6-4 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays in Toronto, Canada. Fox did not make his official debut on the field in the contest and the following day, he was optioned back down to the Storm Chasers.

On the season with the Storm Chasers, Fox - the 24-year old infielder and No.26 prospect in the Royals pipeline - hit .216 with a .329 OBP, .641 OPS, 43 hits, three home-runs, 18 RBI, 32 runs scored and 17 stolen bases.

In June, Fox had his best stretch as a member of the Royals organisation and produced several multi hit games for the Storm Chasers.

While on injury assignment with the ACL Royals in the Arizona Complex League, Fox hit his first home run of the season in a 4-3 loss to the ACL Padres. He returned to the AAA level on July 6.

Fox also flashed the brilliance on the basepaths that has been one of the trademarks of his minor league career thus far. He finished with single game season high three stolen bases and scored two runs in his team’s 12-5 loss to the Indians in July.

Last season, Fox was traded for the second time in his career when the Tampa Bay Rays sent him to the Royals in exchange for outfielder Brett Phillips.

In 119 games of the 2019 season, across AA (Montgomery Biscuits) and AAA baseball (Durham Bulls) he hit .221 with a .331 OBP and a .657 OPS. He totalled 90 hits including 16 doubles, nine triples, three home runs, 34 RBIs, and scored 66 runs.