Eight players from the Northwoods League will square off in the 2011 Marshfield Clinic Northwoods League Home Run Derby on Sunday, July 17th. The Home Run Derby will begin at 4:30 p.m. and is presented by Charter Communications. The participant field will include four players from the North Division and four from the South Division.
Headlining the 2011 Home Run Derby class is the Northwoods League home run leader Shaun Cooper (University of Utah) of the Mankato MoonDogs. Cooper currently sits atop the leader board with 12 home runs through Thursday, July 14th. A junior from Utah, Cooper put together an impressive spring season in 2011, as he batted .348 with seven home runs and a .603 slugging percentage.
Joining Cooper from the North Division are Chris Manship (Kansas) of the Duluth Huskies, Wade Wass (Meridian Community College) of the Brainerd Lakes Area Lunkers, and Jeremy Boyd (Southern Polytechnic University in Marietta, GA) of the Alexandria Beetles.
A catcher and first baseman, Manship leads Duluth in home runs, batting average at .315, and is among the league leaders in RBI with 24 heading into weekend play. He is the cousin of Jeff Manship, a pitcher in the Minnesota Twins organization.
Wass is a catcher who just finished his freshman season at Meridian Community College where he played in 48 games while batting .370 and swatting 11 home runs. This season with Brainerd he carries a .293 batting average with 13 extra base hits. Both Manship and Wass were tied with three home runs apiece going into Friday night’s games.
Boyd, an outfielder out of Southern Polytechnic University, recently finished his junior season. He was a definite power threat this past spring as he hit 10 home runs to go along with 15 doubles and two triples. Boyd has had a successful summer with Alexandria so far, as he ranks fourth in the North Division with a .333 batting average through the Thursday, July 14th games.
Leading the South Division in the Home Run Derby will be Kyle Peterson (Eastern Michigan) of the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters. As of Thursday, July 14th, Peterson was second in the Northwoods League with eight home runs. Peterson was selected in the 50th Round of the 2008 Major League Draft by the Tampa Bay Rays.
Joining South Division leader Kyle Peterson are Josh Scheffert (Nebraska) of the Eau Claire Express, Nate Theunissen (Central Michigan) of the Madison Mallards, and Daniel Rockett (University of Texas at San Antonio) of the first-half champion Battle Creek Bombers.
Scheffert, a freshman from Nebraska, is currently tied for second in the South Division home run lead with seven, and ranks third in the entire Northwoods League in home runs going into the weekend. Through 38 games this season, he leads the Express in runs (25), RBI (23), and is tied for the team lead with 40 hits.
Theunissen, a first baseman, is coming off a strong junior season at Central Michigan. He played in 50 games this past spring and ended up ranking second on the team with five home runs. He is currently hitting at a .333 clip this summer for the Mallards with six home runs and ranks among the league leaders in games played and hits.
Daniel Rockett, from the first-half South Division Champion Battle Creek Bombers, will round out the South Division participants. A sophomore outfielder from the University of Texas-San Antonio, Rockett hit .302 this past spring with six home runs. He has continued to hit the ball well this summer, batting .336 with four home runs and leading the team with 28 runs scored and 29 RBI. Dan’s brother, Michael Rockett, won the Northwoods League Home Run Derby event in 2008.
Watch the 2011 Marshfield Clinic Northwoods League Home Run Derby, presented by Charter Communications, live on www.nwltickets.com on July 17th at 4:30 p.m. The Home Run Derby will be followed by the Field of Dreams Ghost Player Exhibition Game, set to commence at 6:05 p.m. that evening.
On Monday, July 18th the Northwoods League North Division All-Stars will take on the All-Stars from the South Division in the League’s 17th Annual Marshfield Clinic Northwoods League All-Star Game beginning at 7:05pm. The All-Star Game will also be broadcast live on www.nwltickets.com. For tickets to all events call the Rafters ticket office at 715-424-5400 or purchase online at www.raftersbaseball.com
