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Published On: July 18th, 2018

The Nine inning competition will feature the top home run hitters in the league from each division

Rochester, Minn. — The Northwoods League has announced the participants for the 2018 All-Star Game Home Run Derby which will take place before the Northwoods League All-Star Game in Kalamazoo, Michigan on Tuesday, July 24 at 5:30 p.m. (EST). Nine participants from both the South and North have been chosen for the event which will feature a nine-inning competition between the two divisions. Representing the Eau Claire Express will be Scott Ogrin (Cal Poly)

Home Run Derby Participants
South HR North HR
Tyler Plantier Madison Mallards 11 Kyle MacDonald Mankato MoonDogs 12
Brody Wofford Wis. Rapids Rafters 7 Harrison Freed La Crosse Loggers 11
Jonathan Foster Kalamazoo Growlers 6 Matt Warkentin Bismarck Larks 8
Jack-Thomas Wold Wis. Rapids Rafters 6 Landon Stephens St. Cloud Rox 6
David Vinsky Madison Mallards 5 Scott Ogrin Eau Claire Express 6
Zach Daniels Kalamazoo Growlers 5 Caleb Ricca Willmar Stingers 5
Trevor Schwecke Madison Mallards 5 Shane McGuire La Crosse Loggers 4
Niko Kavadas Kalamazoo Growlers 4 Mike Farnell Bismarck Larks 4
Jake Randa Madison Mallards 4 Tyler Reichenborn Willmar Stingers 3

The South team is led by Tyler Plantier (University of Richmond) of the Madison Mallards and Brody Wofford (University of Central Florida) of the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters. Plantier is tied for the second in the league with 11 home runs and has 40 RBI in 46 games for the Mallards while Wofford has hit seven home runs, driven in 27 runs and is currently hitting .308 over 35 games.

The team from the North features Kyle MacDonald (Arkansas State University) of the Mankato MoonDogs and Harrison Freed (Butler University) of the La Crosse Loggers. Over 47 games, MacDonald has a league leading 12 home runs and has scored 39 runs while driving in 55. Along with his 11 home runs Freed has driven in 41 runs in 42 games.

The format for the Home Run Derby is below:

  1. There will be 9 innings with each player having one half inning.
  2. Away team (North) player bats first in the top of the inning, and home team player next (South) in the bottom half of the inning.
  3. Each player will have one half inning at bat that will consist of 6 outs
  4. The player with the most home runs at the end of the 9 innings, will be the Home Run Derby Winner
  5. The team (North or South) with the most home runs will be announced as the winner of the team competition.

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The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Now in its 25th anniversary season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 20 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, more than 190 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET) and Curtis Granderson (TOR). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. For more information, visit www.northwoodsleague.com or download the Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play.