Billy Fleming Council Rock South graduate making noise for Trenton Thunder

By Stuart London, staff writer – Posted Jul 23, 2017 at 12:01 AM

TRENTON, N.J. — At the beginning of the year, Billy Fleming was a nice utility player for the Trenton Thunder.

Now, he is a really nice utility player.

Fleming, a 2011 Council Rock South graduate, was named the Eastern League Player of the Week for July 10-16.

Batting cleanup, the right-handed Fleming hit .471 (8-for-17) with three doubles, three home runs, seven RBIs, three runs scored, one walk and a 1.176 slugging percentage in four games.

“He deserves it,” said Thunder manager Bobby Mitchell, a member of the 1981 Los Angeles Dodgers World Series team. “It was a great honor for him to get that.

“He wasn’t playing every day at the beginning but he has taken advantage of playing every day. He has been tearing it up. Believe me, I’ll be penciling him in at fourth as much as I can the rest of the year.”

Trenton, the Double-A farm team of the New York Yankees, needed some power hitting when its previous cleanup batter, Mike Ford, got called up to Triple-A. Through Friday, Fleming was batting .262 with nine home runs, 46 RBIs and 10 doubles on the season for Thunder.

“It was just one of those weeks where you catch fire,” said Fleming, 24. “I just felt really comfortable in the box.

“I was put (in the cleanup spot) a few weeks ago, and I’m trying to do the best I can. I hit third in college (at West Virginia) and early on here, so it’s not that big an adjustment. I just try to make the most of my RBI opportunities.”

Fleming has spent two short stints with the Yankees’ Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Triple-A team. In a total of 12 games there, he batted .250 with a home run, six RBIs and three doubles.

“A lot of the guys at Scranton played at Trenton last year, so I had friends there,” he said. “It wasn’t like a totally new experience.”

After an impressive performance in the Cape Cod Summer League following his junior year with the Mountaineers, Fleming signed with the Yankees as a free agent. Last year, he played for two A-level teams before getting moved up to the Thunder midway through the season. Injuries limited his playing time to 37 games when he reached Trenton.

“When I got that offer, I believed I was ready for the professional level,” said Fleming. “I believed in my talent and ability and wanted to give it a try and try to make the big leagues. I’ve never regretted that decision.”

Right now, Fleming is entrenched as the Thunder’s No. 4 hitter but, defensively, he is much more flexible. Fleming has started at first, second and third base. Ironically, the only infield position he has not played is shortstop, his position at CR South.

“I’ve been moving around quite a bit, which I believe is a good thing,” he said. “The more positions you play, the more options you have.

“I’m used to different positions by now. They’ve played me pretty equally at all three. I kind of go with the flow; wherever they want to put me is fine.”

Fleming’s offensive output is helping the Thunder basically blow away the field. Through Friday, Trenton had a 65-32 record in the Eastern League’s East Division and held a 10.5-game lead on the Reading Phillies.

“I think we have such a good record because we play as a team first,” said Fleming. “Individual accolades come but the team is first. I think that is why it’s been such a fun year.”

Fleming has been able to enjoy all the team and individual success with his friends and family, being so close to his Churchville, Pennsylvania, home. Mitchell knows that is rare in baseball, where most players perform thousands of miles from where they grew up.

“It’s great that he can do all this so close to home,” he said. “Everyone can come and watch him.”

Fleming said: “It’s incredible. You can live at home now and see family, friends and familiar faces all the time. It’s an incredible feeling; we (play) just 20 minutes down the road.”

In only his second full year of professional baseball, Fleming has already had a taste of the Yankees’ Triple-A team, the last stop before the big club. However, Fleming is taking things one game at a time.

He intends to just show up, hit the ball hard and take the field at whatever position they want.

“You can’t know what the upper level guys are thinking,” said Fleming. “I’m just playing here every day and see what happens. I don’t look that far ahead. If you keep winning, that should propel you.”