Nine inning competition will feature hitters from both baseball and Northwoods League Softball
Rochester, Minn. — The Northwoods League has announced the participants for the 2025 Northwoods League All-Star Home Run Challenge which will take place the day before the Northwoods League All-Star game on Tuesday, July 15 at Warner Park in Madison, Wisconsin.
Six participants from each of the Great Lakes and the Great Plains divisions will be joined by six players from the second season of Northwoods League Softball. The event, which will feature a nine-inning competition, will follow the completion of the Northwoods League Softball game between the Madison Night Mares and the Minot Honeybees which will start at 5:05 pm.
| Home Run Challenge Participants | ||||
| Great Lakes | Great Plains | |||
| Noah Malone | Wausau Woodchucks | Henry Allen | Minot Hot Tots | |
| MJ Sweeney | Madison Mallards | Jake Bechtel | Waterloo Bucks | |
| Noah Ruiz | Wisconsin Rapids Rafters | Maddox Haley | Rochester Honkers | |
| Mikey Bell | Madison Mallards | Ethan Surowiec | Duluth Huskies | |
| Jarren Sanderson | Fond du Lac Dock Spiders | Chayton Fischer | Badlands Big Sticks | |
| Max Soliz | Wausau Woodchucks | Matthew Pena | Willmar Stingers | |
| Hilary Blomberg | Madison Night Mares | Taylor Chillingworth | Minot Honeybees | |
| Emma Kavanagh | Madison Night Mares | Mia Johnson | Wausau Ignite | |
| Avary Makarewicz | La Crosse Steam | Riley Schwisow | Wausau Ignite | |
The format for the Home Run Challenge is below:
- There will be 9 innings with each player having one half inning.
- Away team (Great Plains) player bats first in the top of the inning, and home team player next (Great Lakes) in the bottom half of the inning.
- Each player will receive 2 minutes to hit as many home runs as they can during their turn.
- Each player will be allowed one timeout that they can take at any time during their 2:00, should they choose. Timeouts will be thirty seconds in length.
- Should any contestant hit back-to-back home runs, they will be granted an additional :30 of time that will be added on after their original 2 minutes has completed. No timeouts will be granted during the bonus time session.
- The Team that hits the most Home Runs will be declared the NWL HR Challenge Team Champions.
- The Individual who hits the most home runs will be declared the NWL HR Challenge Individual Champion.
The 2025 Northwoods League All-Star Game will take place in Madison, Wisconsin, at Warner Park, home of the Madison Mallards and Madison Night Mares on Wednesday, July 16 at 6:35 PM. The game will also air on Northwoods League+.
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The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Now in its’ 32nd season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in history with 24 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires, and front office staff, nearly 2400 NWL alums have been drafted and 400 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time All-Star and 2016 Roberto Clemente Award winner Curtis Granderson, three-time Cy Young Award winner and two-time World Series Champion Max Scherzer (TOR), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist and Brandon Crawford and World Series Champion and Cy Young Award winner Chris Sale (ATL). As well as 2019 Rookie of the Year and 2019/2021 Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (NYM) and 2023 World Series Champion, MLB All-Star, MLB Gold Glove, two-time Silver Slugger winner and two-time All-MLB first team shortstop Marcus Semien (TEX). League games are viewable live on Northwoods League+ (at watch.northwoodsleague.com) and on ESPN+.