Skett Smokes Southern League

Will Skett (Reseda High, Valley College) has been chosen the Southern League’s player of the week.

Skett, an outfielder for the Knoxville Smokies, the Toronto Blue Jays’ double-A affiliate, hit .526 (10 for 19) with two home runs and seven runs batted in.

Skett improved his average 92 points to .312.

“I’ve been hitting the ball hard all year,” said Skett, the Blue Jays’ 21st-round pick in 1996. “Everything I hit just fell last week.”

Not everything went perfectly for the left fielder.

One at-bat after hitting a home run against Birmingham on April 22, Skett was hit in the cheek with a pitch. The injury required 12 stitches.

Skett returned the next day and was three for four.

Scanning Wednesday’s box scores:

Triple-A--Paul Faries (Pepperdine) improved his average to .387 with a three-hit game for Toledo (Tigers) in an 8-7 victory over Charlotte. . . . Pat Bryant (Cleveland) drove in two runs for Pawtucket (Red Sox) in a 7-3 loss to Ottawa. . . . Torey Lovullo (Montclair Prep) was two for four with two RBIs for Buffalo (Indians) in an 8-7 loss to Scranton-Wilkes Barre.

Double-A--Dan Cey (El Camino Real) drove in two runs for New Britain (Twins) in an 8-2 victory over Bowie. . . . Arkansas’ Nate Dishington (Hoover) and Stacy Kleiner (Taft) and Shreveport’s Frank Charles (Montclair Prep) each singled in a 6-3 victory for Shreveport (Giants).

Class-A--Pete Paciorek (Glendale College) singled, homered and drove in three runs for Rancho Cucamonga (Padres) in an 8-3 victory over Modesto. . . . Kevin Nykoluk (Simi Valley, Moorpark College) singled in each game of a doubleheader for Peoria (Cardinals) against Burlington. . . . Jon Schaeffer (Harvard-Westlake) had three hits and three RBIs for Fort Wayne (Twins) in a 15-6 rout of Lansing.