By Chris Scheitinger
Baseball fans of all ages gathered Monday night to witness the 2011 Triple-A All-Star Home Run Derby at Spring Mobile Ballpark. Six of the minor league’s best sluggers competed alongside two local Utah high school ballplayers to be named the AAA Home Run Derby champion.
Stefan Gartrell, Mauro Gomez and Dayan Viciedo represented the International League while Jeff Baisley, Bryan Lahair and Trayvon Robinson represented the Pacific Coast League of Triple-A baseball.
The slugfest began with Kayden Porter from Spanish Fork High School, followed by Sam Hall from Bonneville High School. Hall and Porter placed first and second, respectively, in a two-round Home Run Derby among 18 of Utah’s top high school ball players to qualify for the AAA Home Run Derby.
Following three rounds of action, it was the minor leaguer Gartrell that edged out the high school Porter for the home run title.
Porter was excited to compete in the biggest event of his baseball career minutes before the Home Run Derby began.
“It’s amazing. Just being off the field right now, I walked out there and there are a lot of people out there already,” Porter said. “It’s going to be a cool experience.”
The Home Run Derby consists of three rounds. During each round, the batter is allowed 10 outs per at bat. Each hit or swing that doesn’t result in a home run counts as an out. The top four contestants after the first round compete in Round 2 and the top two contestants with the most combined home runs compete head-to-head in Round 3.
Salt Lake Bees’ third baseman Baisley looked to impress his hometown fans. He competed in a home run derby in 2006, but not at the AAA level.
“It’s an honor to be in this All-Star game,” Baisley said. “It’s fun to be here and meet different guys from different teams.”
Baisley tied Spanish Fork’s Porter in the first round with four home runs to qualify for round 2. Round 1 was highlighted by Porter’s monster shot over the left field BBQ concessions, approximately 474 feet in distance. Outfielder Gartrell and infielder Gomez of the Gwinnett Braves hit three home runs and five home runs, respectively, in the first round to advance to Round 2.
Porter continued to steal the show in Round 2, blasting nine more home runs. Once Porter reached 13 home runs, they took away his metal bat replaced it with a wooden bat that the professionals use. Porter failed to hit any home runs with the wooden bat, but still advanced to the final round.
“That was hilarious. I thought it was awesome,” Porter said. “I was kind of hoping they would to do it again the last round just to see what I could do with wood. I only got two swings, but it was still fun.”
Gartrell, who arrived in Salt Lake City early Monday morning after completing a game with the Gwinnett Braves on Sunday night, continued to impress fans in the second round. Gartrell enjoyed the way the ball flew in the high altitude at Spring Mobile Ballpark and added six more home runs in Round 2 to advance to the final round.
“In the second round the ball was flying pretty good,” Gartrell said. “I could see how it could be a very exciting place to play and see a lot of home runs and offensive play here.”
In the final round, Gartrell barely edged out Porter to win the Minor League Home Run Derby. Despite his nerves, Gartrell finished with seven home runs in the last round, while Porter finished with five. Gartrell was impressed with the composure and swing shown by Porter, who is entering his senior year of high school next year.
“That’s a future star in the league, for sure,” Gartrell said. “A kid that big, that strong, that has a swing like that. I was a big kid in high school, but I wasn’t like that. He’s got the tools, he’s got the abilities. … I was very, very impressed with him.”
Porter didn’t expect to win, but wanted to compete and do his best. He enjoyed being out on the field with professionals and competing in front of so many fans.
“I just wanted to mainly come out here and have some fun,” Porter said. “I just wanted to see how far I could hit the ball and how loud I could get the crowd going. It was a really great experience to be out on the field.”
