Yankees’ Kyle Higashioka gets ‘indescribable’ moment (VIDEO)

Yankees catcher Kyle Higashioka’s first MLB hit was a home run in the 11-1 beatdown of the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium on Sunday, July 1, 2018 (7/1/18). The win moved the Yankees into a tie with the Red Sox for first place in the American League East.

NEW YORK — In 2008, the Yankees drafted an 18-year-old catcher out of Edison High School in California in the seventh round.

On Sunday, Kyle Higashioka watched the culmination of a decade of work — the time, the injuries, the ups and downs — fly over the wall and into the second deck of Yankee Stadium.

For the Yankees, Higashioka’s solo homer in the fourth inning of a 11-1 romp over the Red Sox didn’t mean much. They would have won without it.

For Higashioka, it meant everything.

“The feeling’s indescribable,” he said.

Gettin’ Higgy in the Bronx. pic.twitter.com/kFHefWH3pM

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) July 2, 2018

It was Higashioka’s first home run. It was his first hit. And it broke the longest hitless streak to start a career by any Yankee position player, according to researcher Katie Sharp.

Going into the at-bat, Higashioka was 0-for-22. He was hitless in his first 18 major-league at-bats in 2017 debut. He was 0-for-4 since getting called up last week. 

And on Sunday, he was 0-for-1 — a looking strikeout — against Red Sox starter David Price before he laid into a 1-2 cutter Price hung over the plate.

Higashioka drove it like it was on a tee.

“It’s good to see a guy that you got drafted around the same time, coming through the system, homegrown, all that stuff,” said catcher Austin Romine, whom the Yankees drafted in 2009.

“It’s nice to see a guy who keeps plugging away, going through some injuries and come back from it and keep pushing. It’s a good story. Good to see a guy who keeps working at it, gets his chance again and tonight was a good night for him. He hit a home run in a Sunday night baseball game against the Red Sox. I was happy for him.”

Said manager Aaron Boone, “That’s the kind of power we’ve seen from him at times. If he got a pitch, especially from a lefty, that he could do damage with, he’d eventually get him. … That was a big-time shot for you first hit.”

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Higashioka rounded the bases slowly. When he got to the dugout, which had exploded in celebration when he homered, he was given the silent treatment as a prank. After a few minutes, it broke, and his teammates nearly pummeled him with high-fives and back slaps.

“I didn’t expect that,” Higashioka said. “But obviously it was amazing. It was just a great feeling. The guys, they love to have fun here. So it was awesome.”

Brendan Kuty may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @BrendanKutyNJ. Find NJ.com Yankees on Facebook.