Mike Yastrzemski on 2015 season and Bowie's pursuit of Eastern League championship

When the Double-A Bowie Baysox play at Reading tonight in Game 1 of the Eastern League Championship Series, outfielder Mike Yastrzemski will look for a repeat of the playoff series with Altoona.

It was one that was quite good for him and his team. The grandson of Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemki, the younger Yaz went 7-for-14 with two doubles, a triple, two homers and five RBIs as Bowie beat Altoona three wins to one. It was the first ever playoff series victory for the Baysox.

For Yastrzemski, the 2015 season was not as strong as his 2014 year on the stat sheet, but he's been a solid everyday player for one of the best Bowie teams ever.

The 2014 season saw Yastrzemski start at Single-A Delmarva, move to Single-A Frederick and end with Bowie. Over three levels, he hit .288 with 34 doubles, 16 triples, 14 homers, 75 RBIs and an .836. He filled up the stat sheets and was rated the Orioles No. 9 prospect by Baseball America at season's end.

This year he has played the entire season with Bowie. Over 128 games, he hit .246 with 30 doubles, six triples, six homers, 59 RBIs and a .688 OPS. He finished tied for third in the Eastern League in doubles.

What kind of season has it been for him with the Baysox?

"It's been a good one," Yastrzemski said last week at Prince George's Stadium. "It's been a learning process. Trying to understand when to lay off and stop pressing. When to stop trying to do too much and let your talent take over. You don't have to try too hard or force anything. I think that was a big learning curve for me. Been facing better competition for a year and trying to adapt to that," he said.

"I think what I tried to focus on this year is production. Especially at the end of the year, when things aren't going exactly how you planned. Then it's time to put your ego aside and just produce whenever you can. Get a run, score a run, move a guy over, have a quality at-bat to help the team. In a playoff push, that is where your focus is."

You had to figure his big 2014 season made Yastrzemski a bit of a marked man this year for Eastern League pitchers. That may have added some pressure for him to deal with this summer.

"A little bit," he said. "But growing up with feeling some sort of pressure to perform anyways, that really wasn't an issue. Trying to live up to something is not something I try do to. I just try to play my game and keep learning. Each level you go up the game changes a little bit."

A 14th-round draft pick by the Orioles in 2013 out of Vanderbilt, Yastrzemski kept working to get better each day with the help of the Baysox coaches.

"We have a great staff," he said. "They keep it loose, they keep it fun. Even the rovers (roving instructors) that come in, they keep it positive. Everyone likes to have a good time and win."

Yastrzemski said the Baysox are driven to make a push for an Eastern League championship.

"The playoffs are important to us. We don't want the season to end. It is fun trying to represent the organization as best as we can. We want to grow as players and play deep into October one day and win a World Series. So learning to play in these tight, important games is part of that development," he said.

After the Eastern League postseason is over, Yastrzemski will take a short break and then head to the Arizona Fall League for more work.

"Actually, it will be fun to play with an elite group of guys. Everyone is hand-picked. Everybody is there for a reason. It is a great opportunity to keep playing, meet some guys and maybe learn from them," he said.

As for this championship series beginning tonight, Bowie went 2-5 this season against Reading and was outscored 46-36 in the season series. Reading hit .315 against Baysox pitching. While Bowie advanced winning three of four games against Altoona, Reading swept three straight from Binghamton by a 16-6 score to reach this series.

Tonight at Reading at 7:05 p.m., Bowie right-hander Joe Gunkel (10-5, 2.79 ERA) pitches against right-hander Zach Eflin (8-6, 3.69 ERA) in Game 1. The 21-year-old Eflin was a first-round pick (33rd overall) of San Diego in 2012. On Dec. 19, 2014, he was traded by the Los Angeles Dodgers to Philadelphia in the deal for Jimmy Rollins.

Gunkel went 0-1 with a ERA of 8.44 against Reading this season in one start, while Eflin went 1-1 with an 8.68 ERA in two starts versus the Baysox. Nick Additon is scheduled to pitch Game 2 for Bowie with lefty Chris Lee going in Game 3 and David Hess if needed in Game 4. The series shifts to Bowie for Game 3 Thursday and any other games if needed in the best-of-series.

Congratulations to the Triple-A Norfolk Tides on their excellent season that ended last night with their Game 5 loss to Columbus 5-0. Norfolk won a division title this year and made the International League playoffs for the first time since 2005. The Tides' pursuit of their first IL championship since 1985 came up short however.

During the series, no Norfolk starter pitched five innings. But the Tides bullpen was excellent in the series as Norfolk's relievers posted a 0.66 ERA, allowing two earned runs over 27 innings. The two hits for Norfolk tied a season-low for fewest hits in a game. The Tides open their 2016 campaign at home on Thursday, April 7 with a 7:05 contest against the Gwinnett Braves.