The Cupertino Courier

Sports

Perry joins Tulowitzki in pro-baseball

By Mike Barnhart

After finishing off an outstanding amateur baseball career for Long Beach State this spring, Robert Perry has joined former Sunnyvale National Little League teammate Troy Tulowitzki in the pros.

Perry, a football and baseball star at Archbishop Mitty High and a baseball standout for two seasons at Santa Clara University before transferring to Long Beach, Perry has played in a lot of ballparks this year.

After earning All-Big West first team honors in his senior season with the Dirtbags, Perry already has played with three teams in the San Diego Padres' farm system since mid-June, when the Padres picked him in the 16th round of the amateur draft.

After 16 games in the Arizona League and 19 more with the Lake Elsinore Storm of the California League, the 5-foot-10, 185-pounder was sent to Indiana to bat leadoff and play centerfield for the Fort Wayne Wizards of the Midwest League.

After belting an RBI double against the Burlington Bees, Aug. 7 in Iowa, Perry has a combined batting average of .303 in 42 professional games. His accumulative stats included four home runs, 23 RBI and 14 stolen bases.

Perry, who throws and bats left-handed, got off to a fine pro start in Arizona, hitting .391 with two home runs, six doubles, three triples and nine runs batted in. He also was 9-of-12 in stolen base attempts.

During his 19 games with the Storm, Perry hit .259 with four doubles, two triples, two home runs and 12 RBI. A memorable game was a wild 18-14 victory over the Lancaster JetHawks on July 18. Perry knocked in a career-high five runs, including three RBI on a 10th-inning home run that capped the win in dramatic fashion.

The Padres drafted Perry after he led Long Beach State in several offensive categories this season. He paced the Dirt Bags in average (.335), runs (50), runs batted in (52) and triples (4).

Perry's baseball success started with Sunnyvale National Little League all-star teams. Perry and Tulowitzki, now the starting shortstop with the Colorado Rockies, were the best players on teams that placed second in the Little League West Region tournament in 1997 and placed third in the Senior Little League World Series in 2001.