May 6th, 2012 at 5:00 am 
by Ron Cervenka It seems that the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes might have their very own version of Matt Kemp in the making. Like Kemp and his three consecutive Player of the Week honors in the MLB, Quakes first baseman Austin Gallagher, who earlier this week was named the Dodgers’ April Pride Award winner in the Single-A division, appears to be working towards his second consecutive one as he continues to tear it up with clutch hitting for the Dodgers’ Advanced Single-A affiliate.
With two outs and trailing 4-2 in the bottom of the 5th inning in Saturday night’s game against the Lake Elsinore Storm (Padres) at the Epicenter, Gallagher smashed a three-run home run to give the Quakes a 5-4 lead and the eventual final score. Gallagher also singled and doubled falling just a triple shy of hitting for the cycle. On the night the 23-year-old Lancaster, Pennsylvania native went 3 for 4 with 2 runs scored and 3 RBIs and is now hitting .275 on the season with a .342 OBP and a very impressive .523 slugging percentage. And while Gallagher’s numbers are not quite as lofty as Matt Kemp’s Major League numbers are, he is definitely headed in the right direction. Gallagher is in his sixth professional season with the Dodger organization after being selected in the third round of the 2007 First-Year Player Draft. He batted .292 with a career-high 13 home runs and 62 RBI in 111 games with the Quakes last season and is a strong candidate to be promoted to Double-A before season’s end.
Austin Gallagher smashed his team-leading 7th home run of the season in the Quakes 5-4 come-from-behind win against the Lake Elsinore Storm at the Epicenter on Saturday night. (Photo courtesy of rcquakes.com)
Gallagher’s recent power surge couldn’t come at a better time for the struggling Quakes, who are now 13-17 on the season and trail the first place High Desert Mavericks (Seattle) by three games in the fiercely competitive California League’s south division. Although the Quakes currently have a season-high modest 3-game winning streak going, they have been lacking offensively – stay for Gallagher and third baseman C.J. Retherford who are the Kemp and Ethier of the Quakes.
The Quakes are looking to capture their first sweep of the season when they take on the Storm for the 4th and final game of the series on Sunday afternoon.
Posted in 
It is good to see Austin doing well. For a while he was on the list of top 10/20 Dodger prospects, and some saw him as a sleeper. Austin then progressed slowly and was no longer listed as a top prospect. Perhaps he can regain some of that attention.
I saw Austin Gallagher for the first time last season with the Quakes and was not overly impressed with him, as he seemed mediocre at best (on both sides of the ball). But he has clearly stepped up his game this season and as I mentioned above, he is now a candidate for promotion to Double-A (in my opinion). I am equally impressed with C.J. Retherford and Scott Wingo this season as well.
CJ Retherford is late to the scene. He will be 27 in August. He was acquired by the Dodgers from an independent league team:Fargo- Moorhead Redhawks, in December. He has played as high as AAA. Good to see him doing well. The Quakes need some offensive help.
I am watching Leon Landry with the Quakes, waiting for him to take flight.