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Charger Baseball Home Run Derby returns bigger than ever in 2020

Charger Baseball Home Run Derby returns bigger than ever in 2020
Sep 08, 2020

For the past three years, the Hillsdale College baseball team's annual Home Run Derby has put on a show for Charger baseball fans and the community, as the team's best hitters fill a Friday night with long bombs over the outfield fence at Simpson Field.

With the fourth edition of the Charger Home Run Derby set for this Friday, Sept. 11, the Hillsdale baseball team has gone even bigger in 2020, adding a ninth competitor to the festivities, as well as a first-ever alumni bracket.

That brings the total field of competitors to 17 for this year's event, starting at 5 p.m. on Friday. You can watch along at home via livestream at portal.stretchinternet.com/hillsdale/ on the day of the event.

To find out more about the event and to donate to support your favorite hitter, please visit here. The Chargers are looking to raise $14,000 for the team's Operating Fund from this event this season, and are already over 75 percent of the way there with four days remaining in the campaign.

Support for Charger Baseball from alumni, parents and friends has been and will continue to be critical to the health and success of the program, so please consider helping the team meet its fundraising goal this season.

For the 2020 edition of the Home Run Derby, the field of nine hitters as selected by a vote of their teammates includes:

  1. James Krick, Jr. (Downers Grove, IL/North)
  2. Rob Zurawski, Jr. (Detroit, MI/Warren De La Salle)
  3. Joe Hardenbergh, Fr. (Northville, MI/Detroit Catholic Central)
  4. Cooper Peterson, So. (Defending Champion, Leland, MI/Traverse City St. Francis)
  5. Steven Strachan III, Fr. (Caro, MI/Caro)
  6. Jeff Landis, Fr. (Midland, MI/Midland)
  7. Cody Kanclerz, So. (Plymouth, MI/Detroit Catholic Central)
  8. Jaekob Sallee,  Fr. (Otsego, MI/Otsego)
  9. Lewis Beals, Fr. (Mason, MI/Eaton Rapids)

Joining the field of nine current players is a bracket of eight recent alumni who were among the best power hitters the program has ever seen during their time at Hillsdale. The alumni bracket includes:

  1. Steven Ring ('19, 1st all-time on career home run list with 53)
  2. Ethan Wiskur ('17, T-4th all-time on career home run list with 22)
  3. Colin Boerst ('19, T-4th all-time on career home run list with 22)
  4. Chris McDonald ('16, T-4th all-time on career home run list with 22)
  5. Connor Bartlett ('16, T-10th all-time on career home run list with 15)
  6. Dante Toppi ('20, T-10th all-time on career home run list with 15)
  7. Tad Sobieszczanski ('16, 14 career home runs)
  8. Jake DePillo ('19, Fall 2018 Home Run Derby Winner)

Each hitter will participate in a timed round of 1:30 trying to hit as many home runs as possible in the time frame. Additionally, each hitter drafted three teammates who aren't participating in the event to help raise funds for the team. For each $25 a hitter's team raises, they get an additional second to their hitting clock on top of the 1:30. The alumni field are also competing in the fundraising drive, looking to add time to their clocks as well.

After the first round, both the current player and alumni fields will be cut to four semifinalists in each bracket, and then, after an additional elimination round, two finalists competing for the bracket championship.

Once the winner of the current team and alumni brackets are determined, the two victors will face off in a head-to-head showdown to determine the overall 2020 Home Run Derby Champion.