Home Run Derby Draws a Crowd

The following release was issued by Stuart Woodrow:

Marblehead Youth Baseball held it’s Major League Home Run Derby Friday night in front of a packed house of teammates, friends and family at .

The field consisted of 27 hitters representing each of the 8 teams from the league.  To enter, a player must have hit a home run out of the park during the regular season or playoffs. These talented players combined for 81 home runs during the April to June season, led by Liam Tubridy who drove 10 round-trippers.

Highlighting the season was an “inside-the-parker” from Cole Garaventi, 3 “grand salami’s” from Jack Knight, Bo Millett and Hayden Rockett, and the ultimate clutch “walk-off” grand slam by James McCarthy.

Friday Night brought perfect weather to showcase the league’s power hitters. Zach Hennigar and Cam Woodrow hosted the event with player introductions and baseball music for the contest while Alan Abrams provided the photographs.

The first round provided each batter a total of 5 outs with points given for outfield hits (1pt), to the fence (2pts), wall ball (3pts) and home run (5 points).  The top five point achievers moved onto the championship round.

The first round featured a wide range of outfield hits and towering fly balls.  Christian Hennigar's blast to right and Bo Millet’s rocket to center showed off these players power with the longest shots of the derby.  Braden Haley, who only parked two home runs in the regular season, put on a show for his friends and family and streaked for 26 points in round one.

Kyle Koopman also showed off his new bat and powered his way to 19 points. Liam Tubridy, with his flawless steady swing, put up a respectable and expected 20 points in the opening round. Ultimately, it was Drew Bisegna who dazzled the center field crowd with his “shock and awe” approach to hitting.  He topped all batters with 30 opening round points to move the derby onto the final round.

Braden Haley opened the championship round with 9 points including a homerun to right center.  He was followed by Blue Jay, Kyle Koopman, who crushed 28 points.  Drew Bisegna followed with a “Big Papi” hitting school and it looked like he was going to walk away with the trophy with 39 points.

However, Liam Tubridy and Bo Millett waited in the wings. Millett's leadership at the plate and catching for the Braves has led his team to the MYB Chamiponship scheduled for Sunday but Tubridy’s 10 home runs was tops in the league this spring. In the end, Tubridy put up a solid 39 points in the final round but Millet was un-stoppable.

Millett's 56 final round points including homeruns to right, left and off the flagpole in center dominated the contest. Bo Millett was truly the “King Kong” of this year’s Major League Home Run Derby and took home the trophy.

All photos courtesy of Alan Abrams. If you'd like a copy of the slideshow above, send an email to our editor - Owen Boss - at: owen.boss@patch.com