Hitting Back: How has your offseason been? What have you done with your time off? Looking forward to Spring Training?

Mitch Hilligoss: My off-season has been great. I’ve got some much needed rest from my first experience with a full season. I have spent most of my time working here on our family farm helping my Dad. Of course, there is also the workout routine and things like that, as well. As far as spring training, yes I am looking forward to it. One thing is for sure I am looking forward to the warmer weather and getting back into the flow of things. Getting that routine and seeing some of the guys again.

HB: How much did your first professional season here help prepare you for year two in Charleston? Was last year’s success beneficial?

MH: Staten Island helped significantly with this year. I think that short-season helps a player to get acclimated to professional baseball. Professional baseball is a lot different than college. From the wood bats to the way the game is played. As for the success being beneficial, I don’t think it hurt anything. It may catch the eye of someone in the organization and success is always better to learn from than failure.

HB: You certainly improved during your second year winning the Most Outstanding Player of the All-Star game and tying for the South Atlantic League with 161 hits. You were also selected as a Year End All-Star. Can you talk about some of the keys to your success and how it felt to be widely recognized?

MH: This year was a great learning experience for me. The Charleston team had a great coaching staff and they helped us grow as individuals and as a team. Offensively I just worked continuously on my lower half and not drifting. Defensively is where I probably had my troubles. It was a switch of position to third base and I just did not get comfortable until after the first month of the season. Tyson [Torre] sat me down early and told me just to relax and play. That really helped and in a lot of ways turned my season around.

HB: It didn’t start out well. You were struggling at the plate and in the field adjusting to a new league. Then you went on a tear and wound up breaking the SAL record with a 38-game hit streak. What adjustments did you make and what was the feeling like during that hot streak? Any ribbing from teammates?

MH: Well, the season could not have started out much worse that is for sure. Offensively, defensively, really about all areas of the game. I just was pressing and not playing my game. As I already mentioned, I had a good talk with Tys and Colbrunn, our hitting coach, and both just tried to get me to relax. Sometimes I get anxious and lack of a better term, try to do to much. After those meetings I was able to turn it around and have a great run. The hitting streak was awesome. My teammates were great, and I have said this before this was very much a team thing. They always knew what was going on and we just didn’t talk much about it. It was a great experience in so many ways.

HB: Your manager Torre Tyson highly praised you near the end of the year saying:

     “Hilligoss has been the heart of this team from day one. We go as he goes, and he’s very deserving of all the awards he’s gotten this year.”

How much pride do you take in hearing that?

MH: Well anytime your manager talks about you like that it is a great feeling. The whole team, including myself had a great relationship with Tys and the rest of coaching staff. We didn’t have really any prospects, but we hung in there and competed in both halves of the season. So, give Tys credit, he got us ready to play day in and day out, we just fell a little short in the end.

HB: Your team fell a little short of making the playoffs but overall it was a good season with many familiar faces (Fortenberry, Cooper, Pino, Hovis, Smith, Duff, Trubee, etc.) who also played significant roles in helping Staten Island repeat. Can you talk about being around the same teammates with solid chemistry? Did it make it easier especially on the road?

MH: We had a really good core group. Those guys you mentioned and there are many more, like [Brian] Aragon, [Tim] O’brien, [Chris] Kunda and [Mike] Dunn, just to name a few more, they are great guys and great players. We are a close knit group and we have a lot of fun playing the game. That is why I think up until this point we have had a lot of success. We work hard and play hard. We have a lot of fun playing the game, and we are all friends off the field as well.

HB: Your first season out of Purdue was in the shortened Penn League which plays 76 games. Last year, you played in 128 while teammate Seth Fortenberry got into all 140. How much of a difference was it and did you hit a wall at some point?

MH: Oh, the difference is huge. The year before we did have a 60 game college season, but it wasn’t like this year. You do hit a wall toward the end of July. Some of it was probably never doing it before, and not knowing how to pace yourself. I give Fort a lot of props for showing up everyday and being able to play. I know there were days he was hurting, but he went out and no one ever knew. No one else on the team could do that, that is how impressive that was.

HB: This past year, you finished with 35 doubles, 4 triples and 4 homers totaling 43 extra base hits and paced the Riverdogs with 35 stolen bases. How much does speed play a role in your game?

MH: Well, you ask a lot of people and they would probably say not much. I’m not a flashy runner that is for sure. I’m not going to blow you away with acceleration. My key to stealing bases is in my jumps and really understanding when to run. We were all fortunate because we had Tys there and he was an aggressive manager and a former base stealer himself. I know I benefited greatly from that.

HB: You hit leadoff and put together a 38-game hit streak and also reached base in 48 consecutive games. Can you talk about the importance of being able to set the tone as the leadoff hitter?

MH: That’s actually a funny question because I’m not your normal leadoff hitter. I’m a little too aggressive to be a typical leadoff hitter. My goal is the same, but I’m not afraid to swing at the first pitch if I think I could drive it. Most leadoff guys take pitches and walks, both things I am continuing to work on with our staff. But, to answer the question I felt like it was my job to always set the tone of the game from that position. To give our power guys, like Fortenberry a chance to drive me in.

HB: Is there anyone you pattern your game after? Childhood idol?

MH: That has always been a tough question for me. No one ever comes to mind when they ask this, but my idol growing up was always Ozzie Smith. He was so good out there and fun to watch. As good as he was defensively he worked and eventually became a good big league hitter.

HB: In a recent Daily News piece by columnist Bill Madden at The Winter Meetings in Nashville, your name was mentioned as possibly part of a package including Phil Hughes which might’ve gone to the Twins for ace Johan Santana. Any reaction?

MH: That’s funny to me because I don’t think I even knew about the trade until it fell through. It is neat, however to see your name in that and to feel as if people are seeing what you are doing. It is something you have no control of, so you can’t worry about it. I’m still a Yankee for now though.

HB: Some of your former Bomber teammates have also had success such as Francisco Cervelli with Tampa and Colin Curtis who helped Trenton win their first ever championship. Have you been able to stay in touch with them?

MH: Yes, actually I was fortunate enough to go back to instructs this year, they were both there. I also talked with [George] Kontos who had some injuries this year, but we check up on one another occasionally, either on the computer or a text message here and there.

HB: Final question: Do you have any goals for yourself as you enter your third pro season?

MH: I haven’t sat down yet to think about my goals for this upcoming year. I will probably get more in the mood after the holiday season. Right now, I think the most important thing for me is to stay healthy this up coming season and to be in shape for spring training. As far as specific stats or parts of my game, defensively keep improving and getting better at third base. Offensively, hopefully the power is coming around along with the plate discipline.