Kremer: Slammers' Riley at Home in Batter's Box

In the rural part of America where Joliet Slammers hitting machine Marquis Riley grew up, Tobacco Road connected folks with Chapel Hill and the great big world outside of Hillsborough, N.C.

And, right along with lunch breaks in the farm fields, the community called baseball’s sandlots gathering places. Riley, a left-handed hitting second baseman and DH, first had a ball put in his hands as an infant, when his parents, Arthur and Jennifer, toted him along on trips to the ballpark.

His father played in summer softball leagues and was something of a weekend warrior.

Riley—when he wasn’t spending an afternoon at the local fishing hole or riding on four-wheelers with his buddies—devoted much of his youth to baseball and contributing to the rich tradition of the sport in Hillsborough—population 6,000—and at Orange High School.

He estimates 60 players have graduated from the school over the last 60 years and gone on to play in the collegiate or professional ranks. The list includes a few names those who still comb through the baseball register will recognize—Josh Horton, a shortstop who was a second-round draft pick of the Oakland Athletics; Chris Maples, a pitcher/third baseman who was drafted by the Tigers; and Matt McKay, a corner infielder who played with the old Joliet JackHammers.

Riley, for his part, is racing against a ticking clock in hot pursuit of catching up with his dream—playing in the affiliated ranks of pro baseball. He turns 23 on Friday (July 26). He signed with the Slammers after having a cup of coffee with the Kansas City T-Bones of the American Association earlier this spring.

And he’s been tearing the cover off the ball since he arrived in Joliet.

He was hitting .301 with four home runs and 27 RBIs heading into the Slammers’ game Thursday night vs. the Florence Freedom. He was holding down a spot on the list of the league’s leaders. And he was just beginning to come down from the high of being voted the starting second baseman for the West Squad in the Frontier League All-Star Game.

The truth is he’s always been a consistent contact hitter. For proof, check out his collegiate resume. He struck out 23 times in 786 at-bats at North Carolina A&T and compiled a career batting average of .354.

The thing is he didn’t wow enough of the right people to end up on a major league team’s draft board. And, so, he is in Joliet, 500 miles from home, missing southern barbecue and southern hospitality, but sticking true to what he does best—hit the ball—while capably demonstrating he is an upstanding citizen as well as an outstanding ballplayer.

In an age of performance-enhancing drug scandals, he is what baseball needs most, a breath of country fresh air. He is a kid with an infectious smile.

“The only thing I really miss about home is being home and seeing my grandparents,” Riley said. “All the things I do back in North Carolina—I ride four-wheelers and go fishing. There isn’t much to do in that way around here. It’s more of a city atmosphere. You can find a couple lakes, but there are no ponds, nothing like that.

“The other thing I’d say is I miss being outdoors. We’re mostly known where I come from for the agricultural side of it—there’s a lot of farmers, a lot of tobacco.”

The more Slammers manager Mike Breyman comes to know Riley, the more he likes of him and the more determined he is to help him improve his defense so he can make the jump to that next level.

“You can tell Marquis is a great kid; he’s been brought up the really well,” Breyman said. “I’ve talked with both of his parents. And I’ve told them the same thing—you’ve got a great young man and, obviously, a great baseball player. But, off the field, he’s a fantastic person.

“That’s an even luckier thing we got—we got a good baseball player, but at the same time we got a guy that gets it, that works really hard and is not going to be a problem behind closed doors.

“He’s that type of kid—you definitely can see him going out there and fishing and riding some four-wheelers and stuff like that. Me and him are a little bit more alike than I thought we’d be. I’ve been trying to find a fishing hole for the last three months. And I can’t find one either.”

Breyman not long ago moved Riley from the leadoff slot in the Slammers’ batting order to the three-hole. Riley has rewarded him for that vote of confidence by driving the ball into the gaps and emerging as one of the heroes during the Slammers’ recent turnaround. He bats behind second baseman Niko Vasquez and in front of center fielder Nick Akins.

“As a leadoff guy, I went from a guy trying to take pitches and work my way into walks,” Riley said. “Now, hitting in the three-hole I’m looking for pitches to drive. I’ve actually hit a couple home runs, and that’s what I’ve been trying to do—hit more doubles and more home runs—and hopefully that will continue to play out.”

He is determined to improve his baserunning and become more of a threat to steal—a weapon that would make him that much more valuable to potential suitors.

“He’s young enough—I guarantee you some teams are looking at him,” Breyman said. “The biggest thing we’ve got to work on is defensively he needs to be just a little bit better. Hitting-wise, he can do it with anybody.”

Mark it down. R-I-L-E-Y. He is 5-11 and 190 pounds. He goes by “Marquis”—pronounced as you would the billboard outside a theater box office. His name soon could be lit on an MLB stadium marquee. And that’s a long way from country waft of Tobacco Road.