Bobby Atkinson supplies power to the middle of the Rivets’ lineup

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO/WQRF) — The Rockford Rivets have been scoring runs in bunches this season in the Northwoods League. An example of that came Wednesday when they scored 19 runs in Kenosha.

One of the biggest run producers for the team is first baseman Bobby Atkinson. He leads the Rivets with six home runs, and he has driven in 24 runs. Atkinson hit only two home runs last summer while playing in the Northwoods League with Kenosha. I asked him about his added pop this summer.

“I’ve always kind of hit home runs my whole life, just not really in Kenosha last year, and I’m just sticking to my approach, and the coaches here have helped me a lot with my swing and cleaned some things up. So it’s just a result of hard work.”

Surprisingly the Rivets’ 19-run outburst Thursday isn’t their highest run total this season. They’ve also had games where they’ve scored 20 runs, (twice) and 22 runs. They scored 18 runs in another game. Atkinson says the hitting ability throughout the lineup makes everyone bettter.

“I think our lineup is really deep. There’s not really like, the pitcher can never take a hitter off, like you can’t put a guy on base and expect to get the next guy out. Everyone hits, so it’s easy to hit in the lineup where everyone’s good.”

Atkinson recently transferred from Coastal Carolina to Bradley University in Peoria. Atkinson is from Darien, Illinois.

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