By Donald Wittkowski
After putting on an impressive display of hitting Sunday, Will Powers declared that he could probably help the last-place Phillies with his bat.
Powers, a catcher, stepped to the plate wearing a blue Phillies T-shirt and slammed two home runs at Dealy Field in Sea Isle City.
“Way to go, Will,” some of the spectators cheered.
While it remains his dream to play for the Phillies – and the worst team in baseball certainly could use his slugging – it will be a little longer before Powers might make his debut in the big leagues.
For now, the 9-year-old righthander from Maple Glen, Pa., will be performing in Little League. Joining about 100 other young sluggers, he showed off his hitting ability Sunday in the 47th annual Phillies Home Run Derby, a family tradition in Sea Isle.
“Baseball is my favorite sport,” Powers said. “I want to be on the Phillies. That would be great.”
Dreams of playing Major League Baseball are not so far-fetched for the children competing in the Home Run Derby. Millville native and Los Angeles Angels superstar Mike Trout and other big leaguers were in the Derby as kids, said Paul Bradley, who runs the event.
Bradley teams up with Sea Isle’s Division of Recreation every year to hold the event at Dealy Field. Bradley’s late father, Jack, began the Home Run Derby 47 years ago. Now, Paul and his brother, John, oversee the program.
“I’ve watched entire families grow up,” Bradley said of the multiple generations participating in the Derby over the years. “I pitched to one kid in the Home Run Derby in 1975 and then pitched to all five of his kids later on. Now, he has a 2-year-old grandchild who I’ll pitch to when he’s a little older.”
Open to both boys and girls, the Home Run Derby is for children ages 7 to 12. The children compete in three age groups, testing their slugging skills against an automated pitching machine and racking up points each time they collect a hit.
The top three finishers in each age group for boys and girls will advance to regional competitions in August. The winners of the regionals will compete in the Home Run Derby championship Sept. 17 in Philadelphia at Citizens Bank Park, home of the Phillies.
Although he would love to play for the Phillies one day, Will Powers said his favorite player is Washington Nationals slugging star Bryce Harper. Showing no jitters at all, he displayed some Harper-like power in the Home Run Derby.
“I felt pretty good,” Powers said of his two homers.
In the girls’ competition, 10-year-old Lauren Rush, of Broomall, Pa., socked a home run to right field while taking her best cuts.
“That’s outta here. Home Run Derby,” Bradley, who was operating the pitching machine for the girls, exclaimed of Rush’s big hit.
Later, Lauren exchanged high-fives with her mother, Meghan Rush, to celebrate her performance. Meghan Rush’s 8-year-old son, Michael, participated in the boys’ part of the Home Run Derby.
Overcoming some initial nervousness, Lauren Rush explained that she just kept swinging the bat to get into a hitting groove.
“It felt really great,” she said. “I was nervous at first, but I just kept hitting until the nerves went away.”
When she grows up, Lauren Rush said she envisions herself playing softball and basketball in college.
Judging by the home run power she possesses already, perhaps she, too, like Will Powers, could be of some help to the Phillies.
