HUNTINGTON, Ind. – Earlier this week, Huntington University alum Dalton Combs received a call that every aspiring baseball player wants to receive. The former Forester learned that he was making the jump from Short A to Triple A and had less than 24 hours to pack his bags for Sacramento.
Combs will make his debut tonight with the Sacramento River Cats where he will likely see time at first base. The Cats will face the Fresno Grizzlies at 5:05 PM PDT as part of the six-day Highway Series.
The southpaw from Monroe (Ind.) spent the last two seasons playing for the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes where he claimed a .288 batting average (51-for-177). After collecting ten hits and 11 RBI in 2017, he amassed 41 base pokes in 38 games this past season, 14 for extra bases which included five dingers, and knocked in 21 runs.
Combs was Coach Frame’s right fielder from 2013-17. He led the Foresters in hitting as an upperclassman with his biggest numbers coming during his final campaign when he cranked out 72 hits, 28 for extra bases, drove in 41 runs and posted a .402 batting average.
Upon graduation from HU in 2017, Combs was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the 35th round. He was the 1,056th overall pick and is just the ninth Forester in program history to get a chance in the big leagues.