Toward the end of June, Aaron Ordy was in a funk.

The Butler BlueSox second baseman was barely hitting his weight and manager Jason Wuerfel was sitting the Butler High graduate every other game in an attempt to end his season-long skid.

It was a tough start to the Prospect League season for Ordy to be sure.

"I've always been a slow starter," Ordy said. "But coming out, when you struggle, it's tough. It gets in your head."

But Ordy has fought through that slow start.

The left-handed hitter has ironed out the kinks in his swing and settled into the No. 9 spot in the Butler lineup.

Since the calendar turned to July, Ordy is hitting .278 in a league where batting .250 is good.

Ordy has had two multi-hit games and a five-game hitting streak this month.

"Aaron is a guy who had some obvious flaws in his game coming into the summer," said Butler BlueSox manager Jason Wuerfel. "But he did a really good job accepting constructive criticism. Now he's really starting to get into a groove. I can't take him out of the lineup."

That wasn't the case in June when Ordy came to the Prospect League from California (Pa.) University.

As a freshman at Cal this spring, Ordy batted .339, but that was with an aluminum bat and against not the same caliber of pitching he has seen with the BlueSox.

Ordy's average was as low as .188 on June 29. He resisted the urge to read so much into that. The pitching was better, after all. Wooden bats took away any bloop hits that might have raised his average.

Ordy's attention was more on quality at-bats, not just results.

"I don't really like to dwell on statistics," Ordy said. "Obviously, though, I'd like to do well."

Even when his batting average was well south of .200 early in the season, Ordy was still finding ways to get on base.

Ordy has 19 walks and just 16 strikeouts this season. At Cal he had a similar walk-to-strikeout ratio.

"He's a really tough out at the plate right now," Wuerfel said. "One of the reasons why the guys at the top of of lineup like (Brian) Billigen have so many RBIs is because they find guys like Aaron on base every time they come up."

With the help of Wuerfel, Ordy has changed his swing — and his mental approach as well.

Ordy came early to the ballpark and worked with Wuerfel in the cage. They tackled topics from hitting the ball the other way to hitting the ball with authority to having the proper mindset in the batter's box.

Ordy was also pleased that Wuerfel stuck with him through his slump.

"He helped me a lot," Ordy said. "It's definitely great to be here."

While Ordy has climbed out of his slump, his team has fallen into one.

The BlueSox have lost four straight games, but are still just four games out of first place in the East Division.

Winning as a team and improving as an individual for the college season is a fine line that both the players, like Ordy, and Wuerfel have to walk on a daily basis.

"You are coming here to get the coaching that you need to get that much better," Ordy said. "It's an instructional league, and it's here to make you better and prepare you possibly for the next level, but I think as a team, you want to win."

Ordy said he has become a much better player through his experience so far in the Prospect League.

Wuerfel said Ordy is what the league is all about.

"That's summer baseball for guys anyway," Wuerfel said. "These guys are here to get at-bats and get better. That's what Aaron has done."