Peter leads Glendale's offense with three hits in AFL win

Jake Peter and the Glendale Desert Dogs knew no lead would be safe on Tuesday.

One day after allowing the Mesa Solar Sox to score six runs in the ninth inning, Glendale piled on the offense and came away with a 9-5 victory over the same team. Peter, who had three hits and scored two runs in Tuesday's win, said that Monday's result was fresh in the mind of his teammates.

"It was a crazy game [Monday]," he said of the 10-9 loss to Mesa. "Both teams were going back and forth, scoring a lot of runs. Today we scored a few more than them, and it's always good to get the 'W'."

Peter, the No. 13 prospect in the Chicago White Sox organization, is coming off a crucial development year. The second baseman and shortstop spent his entire year at Class A Advanced Winston-Salem, and his trip to the Arizona Fall League is his first test against upper-level pitching.

The 22-year-old batted .260 with a .330 on-base percentage and a .348 slugging mark for Winston-Salem this season, and he's batting .348 through his first few weeks in the Arizona Fall League.

"I'm just trying to be aggressive early, trying to get a good fastball to hit," Peter said. "I was able to square a couple of them up today, and I was fortunate to have a decent day at the plate."

Peter, who was selected in the seventh round of the 2014 Draft, said that he's using the Arizona Fall League as preparation for next season. The middle infielder said he welcomes the chance to face advanced pitching prospects and hopes that it's a prelude to reaching Double-A next season.

"I'm just trying to enjoy the experience out here and soak it in," he said. "I've seen a lot of Double-A and Triple-A guys out here. I've also seen a few High A guys that I faced during the season, but the caliber of pitching is definitely a lot higher. It gives me a measuring stick to see exactly where I'm at."

Peter doubled in the third inning and scored the first run of Tuesday's game on a sacrifice fly. He later singled and scored on a force play in the fifth inning. The youngster delivered an RBI single later in the game and was part of a 12-hit onslaught by the Desert Dogs in Tuesday's victory.

"I'm just trying to keep my same approach and trying to be aggressive on fastballs," he said. "I think that's always worked out well for me, and I'm trying to continue that against upper-level pitching."

Peter, a native of Mason City, Iowa, played his college ball at Creighton University, and he batted .388 in a 37-game run in the rookie-level Pioneer League in 2014. Peter also advanced to Winston-Salem for 23 games that season, and he stayed there for a full season in 2015.

"This is my first full season and I played 130 games," he said. "I was definitely tired at the end of the season, but I was able to go home for a few days, regroup and come out here with a lot of energy."