The 9th best hitter in the 2018 Valley League season, Waynesboro’s Chase Cheek, has one tool that might have been the best in the league: speed. Called a “burner” by at least one other VBL coach, Cheek proved this summer that athleticism is not the only thing he has going; he can hit a bit, too.
Here are his stats for the Generals in the regular season (he left before the playoffs):
| VBL | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | K | SB | CS | Avg | OBP | SLG |
| 2018 | 25 | 109 | 20 | 43 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 19 | 4 | 13 | 12 | 0 | 0.394 | 0.417 | 0.541 |
Notice the 12 stolen bases without getting caught.
In the league, Chase finished 2nd in batting average, 8th in slugging, tied for 5th in doubles, and was named 1st Team All-Valley at outfield. He was hitter of the day twice. His two best games were June 22nd against the Turks, and July 3rd against New Market. Against the Turks, he went 4-5, with 3 runs, 2 RBI, and 2 stolen bases. Against the Rebs, he went 5-5, with 3 runs, 2 doubles, a triple, and 3 RBIs. He was also named ATVL’s 7th best prospect in the league.
Chase hasn’t played much at Duke so far, but here are his stats:
| Duke | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | K | SB | CS | Avg | OBP | SLG |
| 2017 | 35 | 42 | 6 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 17 | 2 | 1 | 0.190 | 0.261 | 0.238 |
| 2018 | 26 | 19 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0.158 | 0.200 | 0.211 |
He was named to the ACC Academic Honor Roll in 2017, and was Duke’s Omaha Award winner in 2018, given to the team’s top all-around athlete during offseason workouts. Sounds about right.
Watch for Chase to get much more playing time this spring, and to take off! (So to speak)
