High school junior does what no MLB player has done before: Hit for home run cycle
A high school baseball player in Ohio has done what no one in Major League Baseball history has done before: hit for the home run cycle.
Taken alone, that Perrysburg High School junior Luke Borer hit four homers in a 22-14 win on Monday night puts him in elite company, tying him for the second-most in a single game in the state’s high school history. But it’s in the home runs themselves where Borer stands out.
He hit a solo homer in his first at-bat, added a three-run shot in his second and a two-run blast in his fourth at-bat. In his fifth at-bat, Borer hit a grand slam. In his sixth and last appearance, Borer popped out with the bases loaded, according to The Toledo Blade.
Borer hadn’t hit a home run in his high school career heading into the game — so he was due, it seems.
Perrysburg HS Junior, Luke Borer, hit for a home run cycle tonight against AW.
1st AB: Solo HR
2nd AB: 3-Run HR
3rd AB: 2-Run HR
4th AB: Grand SlamHe finished 4-5 with 4 HR & 10 RBI’s. The 4-HR in a single game is 2nd best in OHSAA history. The 10-RBI is 10th best ever. pic.twitter.com/HniPadRdaK
— Jordan Strack (@JordanStrack) April 16, 2019
“I still can’t believe I even hit one,” said Borer, via The Blade. “It’s pretty surreal.”
No player in MLB history has hit for the homer cycle, though several have come close in the recent past. Former Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez hit three homers in the first four innings of a game against the Angeles on April 26, 2005, but wouldn’t add the solo shot he needed to complete the cycle. Reds second baseman Scooter Gennett hit four homers in a game on June 6, 2017, but missed on a three-run shot to complete the set.
The feat has been achieved on the college and minor-league levels, however. Florida State’s Marshall McDougall took it a step further in the Seminoles’ 26-2 win against Maryland on May 9, 1999, hitting six home runs in total — an NCAA record, as you might expect — and locking down the cycle with a grand slam in the eighth inning.
In February, Arkansas softball player Danielle Gibson notched the cycle home run in a win against Southern Illinois-Edwardsville. (Gibson also did it in the game’s first four innings.)
It’s happened once in the minor leagues: Tyrone Horne did it on July 27, 1998, while playing for the Class AA Arkansas Travelers, a St. Louis Cardinals affiliate. The bat Horne used in that game was sent to the Baseball Hall of Fame.