---- — NILES — Summer’s first day recently coincided with the first day of Tyler Naquin’s professional baseball career. Similarly, both blossomed in blistering fashion.

On a 90-degree evening, Naquin, the Cleveland Indians’ top draft choice (15th, overall), commenced his career with the Class A Short Season Mahoning Valley Scrappers.

During the club’s 2012 home opener at Eastwood Field, the lefthanded-hitting Naquin notched a 3-for-4 plate performance that included a double. He also stole a base and exhibited his laser-like throwing arm from center field in the Scrappers’ 2-1, 11-inning win over the Jamestown Jammers.

“Great start! Oh, my God, what can you say!” gushed Scrappers’ skipper Teddy Kubiak. “He definitely has some tools, that’s for sure. I threw batting practice to him (Wednesday afternoon), and he definitely can cover the plate. He’s aggressive, he’s smart. ... He’s got a very mature approach at the plate that’s quiet, but aggressive.”

His initial at-bat against Jamestown righthander Mason Hope resulted in an infield single. The ball exploded off his bat, with the top-spin handcuffing shortstop Yeison Hernandez. Working a 2-1 hitters’ count in his 2nd trip, Naquin doubled down the left-field line. Against southpaw Frankie Reed in the 5th frame Naquin notched another infield single up the middle.

Naquin’s night ended in disappointment, but not without a 7-pitch battle against righty reliever Brian Ellington. In a tilt tied at 1 in the 7th, with Scrappers’ base runners on 1st and 2nd with 1 out, Naquin, down 1-2 in the count, fouled off 4 pitches. The last, foul-tipped, was held by catcher Jose Behar.

“He knows what he’s doing, he’s aggressive. You can say, ‘Well, he’s gonna try to hit every pitch.’ There’s nothing wrong with that,” Kubiak emphasized. “He had a good at-bat, that last at-bat. God, he had a great at-bat.”

Following his debut, Naquin, nestled along the 1st-base line, related, “I just go up to the plate, be calm, and try not to do too much, just be myself. When I’m being myself and not trying to do too much, I can help the team out in a lot of ways. ... just give my team a chance, give the guys behind me in the order a chance to drive me in.”

For Texas A&M University this past season, Naquin annexed numbers that got noticed. In 61 games he batted .380, including 18 doubles, 6 triples, 3 home runs, amassing 131 total bases. He drove in 49 runs, slugged the ball at a .541 clip, and his on-base percentage was .458 (including 25 bases on balls, 13 times hit by pitch). He successfully stole on 21 of 26 attempts, and fielded flawlessly, making only 2 miscues in 114 chances.

For his efforts, he was named a 2nd Team All-American by both American Baseball Coaches Assn. and National Collegiate Baseball Writers Assn. It was his 3rd All-American citation.

During his 187-game collegiate career Naquin knocked in 112 runs, scored 153, and launched 69 extra-base hits. Also, there was 17 notches on Naquin’s belt in the form of outfield assists.

Listed at 6-foot-2 and 175 pounds — while not Roberto Clemente — Naquin, nevertheless, has been blessed with a powerful throwing arm. The diminutive Ichiro Suzuki comes to mind.

“I take a lot of pride in making a throw. I told my pitcher (Scrappers’ starter Luis DeJesus), ‘Hey, no one’s gonna go ‘two’ on a ball in the gap,’ ” related Naquin, noting his 1st-inning throw from the left-center field alley that relegated Viosergy Rosa to a single.

In addition to his bat and arm, another Naquin noteworthy attribute is foot-speed. He said he’s been clocked at 6.62 in the 60-yard dash and 3.8 from the batter’s box to 1st base.

While assessing Naquin’s skill-set, in mid-sentence Kubiak could not contain a grin, admitting, “It was kind’ve fun to watch him run, too. ... He kind’ve scoots along in some kind of a low — I don’t even know how to explain what he does — but he can run.”

A Spring, Texas native, Naquin knows Niles and the Scrappers have served as a springboard for several major-leaguers. Naquin had nothing but praise for the Cleveland Indians’ organization, from its upper echelon, to a brief encounter with a newcomer, albeit a grizzled vet.

“ ... Whenever a guy like Johnny Damon walks over, through the crowd after ‘BP’ (batting practice), and talks to me and my family, you know you’re in a good spot. The  Cleveland Indians are a great organization to take people like (Damon) into it,” Naquin noted.

“In talking to him, he’s got his game together. I think he’s a good, young man,” Kubiak confided.

Naquin returned the nod to Kubiak.

“ ... He’s real humble, and he’s a little bit ‘old-school.’ He liked playing the game hard, and that’s how I like to play it. Him giving me opportunities, I’ll make the best of them,” Naquin said.

“The way he does it?” Kubial rhetorically asked. “I guess I don’t know what he means by ‘old school. I think I see what he means, I guess. But, you don’t see what he does very often. I mean, I don’t, working with young guys.

“He’s a good pick, he’s a very good pick,” Kubiak concluded.

Naquin, naturally, while energized, is attempting to maintain some perspective,

“I’ve come this far in my career, I’ve just got to keep believing in myself, to go out there and play my game. Whenever I play my game I give the other people on my team a chance to drive me in,” he related.

He admitted to his professional debut being a childhood ambition realized, explaining, “It is. I was, maybe, a little more relaxed than maybe I thought of. But, like I said — just being myself and playing hard.”

Naquin’s Bible-belt upbringing surfaced several times. Summarizing his skill-set, he humbly admitted, “ ... Of course, God’s blessed me, so I’m just trying to take my ability as far as I can.

“I feel really confident. Just keep my spirits up, just keep playing hard, and I feel like I’ll progress. Whatever God tells me is the next step, I’ll take the next step.”