FORT WAYNE – Randy Smith initially thought Everett Williams would miss a couple of games after the outfielder collided with teammate Donavan Tate while going for a fly ball April 12 at Bowling Green.

After further evaluation, Williams had to have season-ending surgery to repair a tear in the anterior cruciate ligament of his right knee.

The TinCaps have struggled since losing their No. 2 (Tate) and No. 3 (Williams) hitters to injury. Tate suffered a deep bone bruise in his left knee and will be out until at least June 1.

“The way they both started and the way the team started with the pitching, we thought we would be in good shape,” Smith said before Wednesday’s game with Lansing at Parkview Field. “It’s taken us awhile to regroup.”

Smith, San Diego’s director of player development, has been in town this week.

He praised the pitching, anchored by Keyvius Sampson and Zach Cates.

He said the defense, with catcher Emmanuel Quiles, second baseman Chris Bisson and shortstop B.J. Guinn, has been one of the team’s strength.

“Those are two guys with good hands who will help the pitching staff out,” Smith said of Bisson and Guinn.

And he thinks the hitting will come around.

“I think losing those two guys really thinned out the lineup and put more pressure on everybody else because you lost two guys who were going to be run producers,” Smith said.

The team started 4-1 but has gone 6-16 since the injuries. Fort Wayne has a .232 team batting average, tied for 12th in the Midwest League.

Williams had a .300 average; Tate is hitting .316.

Jake Blackwood has been the most consistent hitter in the first month. The third baseman leads the team in batting average (.330), home runs (5) and RBI (15).

“Having Blackwood here gives us veteran leadership and a guy who has swung the bat from day one,” Smith said. “He played well enough to make another club (in San Diego’s minor league system), but we wanted to give him at-bats, and this was a place we could get him at-bats on a daily basis.

“I don’t envision him staying here all year, but for right now, he’s a glue in the middle of the lineup.”

Blackwood and Tommy Medica are the only two active TinCaps with an average above .300. Fort Wayne has scored three runs or fewer in 15 of its last 18 games.

“As it warms up and we get the chance to work in the field instead of the cages, it’s natural these guys will swing the bats better,” Smith said. “We got into a little rut after the two big guys got hurt, we had guys trying to do too much.

“Hopefully it settles in with (outfielders Rymer) Liriano and (Luis) Domoromo here and (Chris) Tremblay starting to get some hits now. Hopefully it all falls together and we can get all three parts of the game going at the same time.”

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