He walks by faith and runs the bases.
Well, he doesn’t exactly have to run. With the type of power Dominic Hellman has, he has the luxury to jog the bases after hitting his latest baseball to Portland.
It’s the type of power that his head coach, Mark Wasikowski, says allows him to mishit a baseball and still send it over the wall.
Hellman starts every media availability the same way, “First of all, I’d like to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.”
It’s muscle-memory for him at this point, but what he’s doing on the field is anything but routine. Hellman has already smacked five homers this season, matching his career total entering 2025. Of his six extra-base hits, five have left PK Park.
There may not be a player on this 2025 roster that’s experienced and demonstrated more growth during his time in Eugene. He’s got incredible pop and force behind his swing — nobody’s ever had to check a Hellman swing; he went.
He entered Oregon’s four-game series against Columbia hitting .211 with no homers and only two RBIs. After the Ducks swept the Lions and picked up a midweek win over Utah Tech, Hellman sat tied for second on the team in both RBIs (190) and homers (five) while his average spiked to .366.
That’s an absurd series. Across those five games, Hellman was 11-22 (.500) with five homers, a double and an astounding 17 RBIs. How does that even happen?
Well, becoming the first player in Ducks’ history to hit two grand slams in the same game helps. Two swings in the opening game of the Columbia series rewarded Hellman with eight RBIs. He was 3-5 with four more RBIs the following game (a 35-1 win) and smacked a solo homer in the second game of the doubleheader.
His heroic weekend earned him both Big Ten Conference Player of the Week and NCBWA Dick Howser Trophy National Co-Hitter of the Week honors.
“It all ties back into my work, faith and my teammates around me,” Hellman said of his awards. “I was doing homework and then [Wasikowski] texted me, ‘Hey, congrats, Big Ten Player of the Week’.”
The latter award was announced on Tuesday, just hours before his second two-homer performance in five days.
“Well, when he gets hot, it can be fun,” Wasikowski said. “You see how he can change a game.”
He’s changing not only each game, but the trajectory of his entire career.
Hellman was a highly-sought-after recruit. Perfect Game had him as the No. 12 shortstop in his class and the 62nd-best player overall, accolades he earned by batting over .500 in both his junior and senior years of high school in Mill Creek, Washington.
But his first seasons with the Ducks were lined with frustrations. He battled injuries and inconsistencies in each of his first two seasons with Oregon — in which he only played in 27 total games and hit just .263 with 10 more strikeouts (34) than hits (24).
Still, his coach had faith in him. Wasikowski raved about Hellman throughout each of his first two seasons, wishing he was healthy enough to keep in the lineup. Through his ups and downs, Hellman leaned on his relationship with God.
“It ties back to my walk with faith,” Hellman said of his growth. “Coming in here, I was a believer, but I wasn’t necessarily a follower of Jesus. [I started] making sure I had gratitude toward every day. Being injured was a sense of ‘wow, this sport could be taken away from me at any time’.”
“I just want to make sure that every day with practice, off days, half days, game days, I can give it my all like it’s my last day and truly be thankful about every opportunity,” he said.
His approach has changed. He doesn’t conform to the idea of taking a pitch for a first strike. If the opposition serves him something he can feed on, Hellman’s going to eat.
“It’s something about taking the at-bat and rolling with it,” Hellman said of his approach. “You can’t be a stubborn-minded hitter, because it’ll eat you alive if you don’t get [a certain] pitch.”
He likes to attack early; both of his grand slams came on the first pitch of the at-bat. But he’s also satisfied waiting for his pitch. Both of his bombs against Utah Tech came with a strike in the count.
When asked what his pitch was, Hellman chucked. “Something up,” he said. He likes them elevated, but he’s got enough lift in his bat to work with just about anything.
“After every at-bat, I like to remind myself that I’m thankful for that opportunity that just happened, whether it was a good outcome or a bad outcome.”
While he gives his glory to God, his teammates and coaches’ praises are for him.
“He’s a tremendous young man,” Wasikowski said. “He shows up every single day and his commitment to the weight room has been there. He’s a very very strong kid.”
“Phenomenal player,” center fielder Mason Neville said. “He has the ability to put the ball out anywhere on the field. I’ve seen him [gain] confidence. Knowing he has that ability in him and allowing him to go out there and compete and gain confidence is the biggest thing.”
Now, Hellman’s one of the Ducks’ hottest hitters entering conference play, and it’ll be hard for Wasikowski to take his bat out of his lineup. There’s still a lot of season ahead, but Hellman’s heroic run, or jog, may be just beginning.
