Wilson's pro baseball debut a smash hit

Published: June 30, 2010 

— A professional debut in front of a sellout crowd is every baseball player's dream.

For Russell Wilson, who is used to playing on national television in front of sold-out college football stadiums around the nation, Friday was just another day.

But after the N.C. State quarterback drove in a pair of runs and scored two more for the Tri-City Dust Devils in a 10-5 win over Eugene at Gesa Stadium, it became Wilson's day.

"I tried not to treat this any differently than I would any other day," said Wilson, a two-year starter at quarterback for the Wolfpack who is playing second base for the Dust Devils. "I just try to prepare my mind the same way for each game."

The Rockies are allowing Wilson, a fourth-round pick in the June MLB draft, to play football as a redshirt junior for the Pack in the fall.

Wilson's two-run, two-out single in the third inning boosted Tri-City's lead to 6-2 before he stole his first base and scored on an RBI single up the middle by Leonardo Reyes to make it 7-2.

"[Wilson] is a great athlete with some great leadership skills," Dust Devils manager Fred Ocasio said on Friday. "He likes to get a lot of information. This was his first day out, but he was already talking to the infielders and the pitchers."

After three games, Wilson was hitting .308 (4-for-13).

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