Justin Jenkins (baseball)

Infobox MLB player


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name=Justin Jenkins
position=Left Fielder
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Justin Jenkins (born in Ridgeley, West Virginia) is a former minor league baseball player in the Cleveland Indians organization. Jenkins is a left-fielder and is considered one of the best hitters in West Virginia University baseball history. [ [http://www.msnsportsnet.com/page.cfm?story=10908&cat=baseball MSNsportsNET.Com - West Virginia University Mountaineers ] ]

Early life

Justin Jenkins began his baseball career at Frankfort High. He was named as an honorable mention to the all-state team as a freshman, but was selected as all-state as a sophomore, junior, and senior.

Collegiate career

Freshman season

Justin Jenkins traveled out to Keyser, West Virginia to attend Potomac State College, a junior college. He hit .413 as a freshman and was named 2nd team NJCAA All-American. He played in 46 games with 4 home runs and 34 runs batted in. He returned for his sophomore year but injured his shoulder in the first game of the season and redshirted the 2003 campaign. Jenkins played for former West Virginia assistant coach Doug Little at Potomac State. Jenkins then transferred to West Virginia University.

ophomore season

Jenkins began his career as a redshirted-sophomore in 2005 at third base, where he started all 55 games for the Mountaineers. Jenkins was named to the second-team all-Big East and in that season alone, Jenkins ranked among the top ten hitters in school history in batting in season base hits (79), home runs (12), at-bats (220), doubles (23), extra base hits (36), runs scored (50) and multi-hit games (24). He also tied the school record for most hits in a game with five against Maryland-Eastern Shore. He also crossed home plate five times in that game and recorded seven RBIs and two home runs. He tied Lee Fritz for the team lead in multiple hit games with 24 games as well. He also recorded a triple against Rutgers and had two doubles in five separate games to end a very impressive sophomore campaign.

Junior season

As a junior in 2006, Jenkins ranked in the top ten in the Big East in most major batting categories and was named first-team all-Big East. He was a first-team all-region selection and a preseason all-Big East selection. Jenkins had a school record 94 hits for the season, including a 21-game hit streak during the middle of the year. He recorded two RBIs and two doubles against Penn State, a home run and four RBIs in a win over Niagara, a double, a home run, and three RBIs against St. Peter's, a career-high five hit day against St. Bonaventure, two home runs, four RBIs, and six runs in a sweep of Pittsburgh, and a career-high three doubles in a 28-8 win over Seton Hall. He also had two home runs in the two-game series against UConn and a homer against Georgetown.

enior season

For the 2007 season, his senior year, Jenkins made the move from third base to left field. He was selected as a preseason All-American and was recognized as one of the most powerful hitters in the Big East, being selected to the first-team Big East outfield at season's end. After a no-hit game against Cleveland State in the season opener, Jenkins had a 38-game hit streak throughout the season. The streak was ended April 29 in a loss to St. John's. The streak was tied for 10th longest in NCAA history and was the longest streak in the 22 years of the Big East. Jenkins amassed 24 multi-hit games on the season while batting with a .372 average, with eight home runs, 21 doubles, and 43 RBIs. Jenkins' season-high batting average came in April, when he hit a career-high .449. He was featured on the Dick Howser Trophy watchlist for the best player in the NCAA. Jenkins set the school record of base hits with 253 hits, which was formally established by Tim McCabe in four years from 2000-03 with 251 base hits. Jenkins was also close to breaking other career records at West Virginia in this season. [ [http://www.register-herald.com/sports/local_story_141230147.html?keyword=topstory The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia - Jenkins leaves West Virginia with eight records ] ]

Legacy

Jenkins is often considered the greatest 'pure-hitter' in West Virginia baseball history, along with greats such as Darrell Whitmore. In three years at West Virginia, Jenkins has every major WVU hitting record within sight and already owns school marks for career extra base hits (101), career doubles (70), career total bases (411), most base hits (253), total bases (429), most times hit-by-a-pitch (27), most multi-hit games (78), consecutive multi-hit games (8), and hits in a season (94 in 2006). Jenkins also owns many single-season records, many coming in his senior year. Jenkins' .369 batting average is sixth highest in Mountaineer history, while he is tied for second on career home runs with 33 homers. He ranks third in Mountaineer history in runs scored with 158 runs, and fifth in runs batted in with 140 (42 away from the school record of 174, set by Stan Posluszny in 2006). [ [http://www.register-herald.com/sports/local_story_141230147.html?keyword=topstory The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia - Jenkins leaves West Virginia with eight records ] ]

Professional career

Minor Leagues

Jenkins took advantage of the fifth-year senior rule about avoiding the MLB Draft and signed a contract with the Cleveland Indians. Jenkins spent a few weeks working out in Winter Haven, Florida, then went to play for the Mahoning Valley Scrappers of Minor League Baseball. [ [http://www.msnsportsnet.com/page.cfm?story=10957 MSNsportsNET.Com - West Virginia University Mountaineers ] ] In Jenkins' minor league debut on August 11, 2007, Jenkins went 0-3 with a base on balls and two runs. Three games later on August 17, Jenkins went 4-5 with a double, an RBI, and a run. At the end of the 2007 season, Jenkins batted .230 with 16 runs, 11 doubles, 2 triples, 3 home runs, 22 RBI, and 3 stolen bases. [ [http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?n=Justin%2520Jenkins&pos=OF&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=520889 Minor League Baseball: Stats: Player ] ]

References