Grand Canyon baseball OF Homer Bush Jr. having breakout year after big offseason gains
Homer Bush Jr. usually was found batting at the bottom of the order at Grand Canyon in seasons past. Now he's at the top. He's been coach Gregg Wallis' leadoff man since day one, and there's been no reason to move him since.
Entering a three-game Western Athletic Conference baseball series at home against Seattle U on Thursday, Bush is second on the team in hitting with a .429 batting average. He leads the team with 39 runs scored and nine stolen bases in 11 attempts.
Bush, the son of former New York Yankees player Homer Bush (a part of their 1998 World Series championship team), said he added about 10 pounds since last season. Now 6-foot-3, 200 pounds, and seeing the ball better than ever, he's climbing the Major League Baseball draft projections.
Just this week, he won the WAC Hitter of the Week for the first time in his career and landed on the Golden Spikes Award (for top college player) midseason watch list, along with teammate Jacob Wilson, a shortstop, who is projected to be among the first 10 players taken in the draft.
Both players are among the top 25 in the nation in batting average. Wilson leads the team with a .465 batting average, which ranks third nationally.
"It started in the summer," Wallis said of Bush. "He went out to Cape Cod (league). He struggled a little bit early, but found himself. It carried over to the fall. He had an incredible fall. It moved right into the season."
Bush, in his third year at GCU and draft eligible, said he credits simply experience. Last year, was his first season at GCU seeing himself in the starting lineup every game.
"Combining that with the experience I got at the Cape, and being able to make those adjustments, helped," Bush said. "And some of the stuff I worked on with Coach Jack (Wilson) and Coach Wallis, and the confidence they have in me, it's been huge for my success."
Bush, who grew up in Texas and played at Carroll High School in Southlake, was slated for the cleanup role this season in the beginning, Wallis said.
"Me and Homer talked before the season about getting him in more of a run-production spot in the lineup," Wallis said. "But he's been getting on base so much, controlling the strike zone. With his speed, for our team, he's the ideal leadoff hitter right now."
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GCU is 17-11 overall and 8-4 in the WAC. The Lopes have won all but one WAC series.
"We're at the halfway point right now, and the thing we feel best about is that we've played pretty well, especially on weekends," Wallis said. "But we still have a lot to improve on. I don't think we're anywhere near a finished product.
"We've been doing every aspect of the game well at some point. But we haven't put it all together in one game. We know it's there for us. In the second half of the season, it's going to be about, 'Can we play good baseball in all areas consistently throughout the game?' It's in there but there's a ton of room for growth in the second half."
Bush is looking to keep playing as well in the second half as he has in the first half of the season. His dad is coaching in Staten Island in independent baseball this summer. He coached Homer as a youth.
"Now he's more in that dad role, which is pretty cool to see," Bush Jr. said.
Bush is not focused on the draft now. Just winning and getting GCU back to the NCAA Tournament regional.
"Realistically, I'm just trying to compete at the highest possible level," he said. "All of that figures itself in the end."
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: GCU OF Homer Bush Jr. having breakout year after big offseason gains
