Cory Spangenberg finished strong in his first season playing Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball.
Spangenberg homered in consecutive games Nov. 3 and 4, drove in runs in four of his last five games and had hits in six of seven November games.
The 2009 Abington Heights graduate went 8-for-21 (.381) in six games over the final week with a double, two homers and eight RBI.
Spangenberg, who had spent parts of the previous six seasons playing Major League Baseball with the San Diego Padres and Milwaukee Brewers, finished among the Pacific League leaders in many offensive categories.
The left fielder/third baseman led the Pacific League with eight triples, ranked third with 26 doubles, fifth in stolen bases with 14 and tied for ninth in home runs with 15. He batted .268 in 111 games, scoring 51 runs and driving in 57.
Spangenberg hit a solo homer Nov. 3 to give the Saitama Seibu Lions a 3-2 lead on their way to a 5-4 victory over the Hokkaidu Nippon-Ham Fighters. He drove in two runs in the game.
The next day, Spangenberg hit a three-run homer to help the Lions to an 8-0 lead after two innings of a 10-3 victory. He finished 2-for-4 with two RBI.
Spangenberg went 2-for-4 with a walk Saturday and 1-for-3 with a hit batsman Sunday while also driving in a run in each of those games, his last two of the season.
Saitama were 3-3-1 in the final week to finish 58-58-4, tied for third out of six Pacific League teams, 15½ games out of first place.
