Gig Harbor grad Burghardt finding success with Portland Pickles baseball team, including a two home run career night

Crushing two homers and driving in seven runs doesn’t happen every night.

But it’s exactly what Jon Burghardt achieved in a 14-4 rout of the San Francisco Seals on July 13.

The Gig Harbor graduate — who catches for Morehead State University in Morehead, Kentucky during the school year — mashed his way to a career performance with the Portland Pickles, a collegiate summer team in the West Coast League.

What was the key for Burghardt’s seven-RBI night at the plate?

“Pitch selection,” Burghardt said. “I was laying off curveballs in the dirt, and I was really hammering the pitches I should’ve hit. They were throwing me a lot of breaking balls away. Then they’d come in with a fastball, and I would hammer them over the fence.”

His tenure with Portland accounts for just three months of the year, as the Pickles compete through August in the West Coast League — a summer league comprised of 12 teams located throughout the northwest.

The platform allows Burghardt to build on his previous season at Morehead State, where he flashed a .305 batting average and hit six home runs.

“I did really well there,” Burghardt said. “I got a lot of good experience and made a lot of new friends. It’s awesome experiencing the south, and seeing that part of the country.”

Burghardt praised his college teammates and coaches from MSU, and noted the relationships he built during their ultimate goal of competing at the College World Series in Nebraska.

“You meet your brothers for life,” Burghardt said. “You’re really competing every day and you all have the same goal — to go to Omaha and get as many wins as you can.”

But unlike any home run trot — which Burghardt experienced twice on the thirteenth — a day in the life of a college baseball player is no walk in the park.

“At Morehead State, we’d have classes in the morning and then practice from about 2 to 5 p.m.,” Burghardt said. “We lift from 5 to 6:30, and then I’d go to the library from seven to nine and then go home to relax.”

The summer schedule doesn’t seem much quieter.

“During the summer, I have a summer class,” Burghardt said. “I’d get up and do my homework right away and then go to the games. It’s pretty hard to balance school when there’s homework you have to do, and then practice, and then games. But our academic advisor really helps us out, and helps us manage. She gives us a good schedule.”

Though his summer schedule doesn’t exactly let up, Burghardt’s approach with the Pickles differs from his time at Morehead State. He notes a spike in at-bats and a sense of freedom when focusing on development.

“[Portland] is a lot more relaxed,” Burghardt said. “You get a lot more at-bats and you’re working on development. You’re more free to work on what you need to work on. When you’re at school, it’s more of what the coach says you need to work on. I’m just really getting ready for my last season, and hopefully getting picked up.”

And throughout the summer, Burghardt’s offensive production has yet to decline. He’s currently sporting a .285 batting average, already having matched the six home runs he hit with Morehead State last year.

The Pickles finish up the regular season at home August 11 before the divisional playoffs begin. What did Burghardt’s big night do for his game in the meantime?

“I got a lot a confidence from it. Baseball is a lot about confidence. You get guys that go on slumps and can’t find a barrel, and then you have a night like that, and you feel like you can hit any pitch in the world.”