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It doesn’t matter which end of the 60-foot, 6-inch imaginary line Alex Wong occupies on the Wentworth Institute of Technology baseball diamond.

Whether Wong is toeing the rubber and looking for a sign or digging into the batter’s box and waving his bat back-and-forth, consider this bit of friendly advice.

Don’t blink.

Long, drawn-out at-bats are an extreme rarity for Wong. When the Lewiston High School product is pitching for the Leopards, coaxed choppers and grounders are the rule. When he’s swinging on the behalf of the NCAA Division III school in Boston, the green light rarely switches to red or yellow.

“He just does a little bit of everything,” Wentworth coach Steve Studley said. “He’s done a great job at the plate and has really evolved into our No. 1 on the mound.”

Even in D3, the most versatile athletes customarily find a specialty and stick to it.

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Wong, to the contrary, has only further sharpened his supply closet of skills and emerged as one of the most valuable players in New England.

When Wong isn’t serving up zeroes as Wentworth’s pitching ace, he’s posting crooked numbers as the Leopards’ leadoff hitter and center fielder.

The same left-hander who’s spun four complete games and weaved a miserly 2.60 ERA also leads Wentworth (13-12) in virtually every offensive category.

“It’s exciting, especially after not really getting to hit last year,” Wong said.

Now a junior, Wong hasn’t always made it look this easy.

He didn’t pitch at all in his first college campaign. Studley slid Wong into the lineup as an outfielder. The rookie started 33 games and batted a solid .326 with 19 RBIs.

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Wong showcased his pitching exploits that summer in Maine’s American Legion state tournament. He shone throughout the second season and picked up the victory in Gayton Post’s championship game triumph over Augusta.

“I watched him in Legion, and I loved how he kept the ball down and had great command of the strike zone,” Studley said.

That earned him a spot in Wentworth‘s rotation as a sophomore. The plan was for Wong to stay in the outfield when he wasn’t pitching.

“I started 0-for-18 and that was it,” Wong said. “I didn’t get to hit much after that.”

Wong wound up batting .182 with only six hits. On the better half of the equation, he was 3-2 with a 4.25 ERA.

Without any additional Legion eligibility to work out the kinks, Wong found two other sources of help: A camera and a batting cage.

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“My girlfriend took some pictures when I played for (high school and Legion coach Todd) Cifelli,” Wong said. “I had started dropping my hands a lot. I had to make sure to keep them up. It was all a mental thing and staying confident.”

And the cage? Although it isn’t Wong’s natural inclination any more than drawing or issuing walks, he still made it a regular part of his summer and fall routine.

“I’ve never really been a good batting cage hitter, but over the winter I really worked a lot in the cage to build my confidence,” Wong said. “I went into the first game feeling really good, and I hit the first pitch of the season into the gap for a triple.”

It was the first of five three-baggers along with a home run on Wentworth’s annual southern trip.

In a more recent doubleheader, Wong swung at the first pitch he saw in each game. Both went for a double; one to left center field, the other its mirror image to right center.

“He’s been driving the ball,” Studley said. “He has good gap-to-gap power.”

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In addition to his team-best .404 average, Wong leads the Leopards in runs, hits, doubles, triples, stolen bases, on-base percentage and slugging percentage.

Wong (2-2) almost always finishes what he starts on the mound as the no-frills, crafty southpaw from central casting.

His best start of the spring was a three-hit shutout.

“I’m never going to blow people away with my fastball. I don’t have a curve that breaks everybody’s legs,“ Wong said. “I’m more a guy who throws a pitch that looks meaty, but at the last second it tails off and I get a ground ball to second base. I like to get outs and get back in the dugout.”

“He’s a quick worker,” Studley echoed. “He’s very efficient and gets a lot of first-pitch outs, and because of that he doesn’t have to throw a lot of pitches and can work deep into games.”

Wong has unwittingly helped Wentworth in a third capacity: By opening the Leopards’ eyes to diamonds in the rough on the northern end of the recruiting trail.

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Former Lewiston and Gayton teammate Scott Ouellette followed Wong to Wentworth and is contributing regularly as a freshman. Studley credits Cifelli, who also is a regional scout for the Cincinnati Reds, with getting his former players noticed.

No matter what day of the week it is, and whether Wentworth is at the plate or guarding the greenery, Wong has no trouble earning that recognition these days.

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The Wong File

Alex Wong’s 2012 statistics for Wentworth baseball, with team rank in parentheses:

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.404 average (1)

30 runs (1)

35 hits (1)

7 doubles (1)

5 triples (1)

17 SB (1)

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1 HR (T-1)

17 RBIs (2)

.500 OBP (1)

.640 slugging (1)

2 pitching wins (T-2)

2.60 ERA (1)

34 2/3 innings (1)

4 complete games (1)

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