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Published On: July 19th, 2023

Kalamazoo, MI — The Northwoods League has announced the participants for the 2023 Northwoods League Great Lakes All-Star Home Run Challenge which will take place the day before the Northwoods League Great Lakes All-Star game on Monday, July 24 at Turtle Creek Stadium in Traverse City, Michigan.

Nine participants from each division of the Great Lakes have been chosen for the event which will feature a nine-inning competition. Casen Taggart will represent the Growlers in the competition.

                    Home Run Challenge Participants
Great Lakes East Great Lakes West
Roman Kuntz Kokomo Jackrabbits Ryan Sprock Madison Mallards
Glenn Miller Traverse City Pit Spitters Brendan Bobo Wisconsin Rapids Rafters
Casen Taggart Kalamazoo Growlers Dalton Pearson Wausau Woodchucks
Parker Brosius Traverse City Pit Spitters Owen Jackson Madison Mallards
Tyler Minnick Traverse City Pit Spitters Jack Gurevitch Wisconsin Rapids Rafters
Fischer Pyatt Battle Creek Battle Jacks Carlos Hernandez Green Bay Rockers
Nick DeMarco Rockford Rivets Jesse Donohoe Wausau Woodchucks
Lance Trippel Kenosha Kingfish JoJo Jackson Green Bay Rockers
Karson Hesser Kokomo Jackrabbits Colin Brueggeman Wausau Woodchucks

The format for the Home Run Challenge is below:

  1. There will be 9 innings with each player having one half inning.
  2. Away team (Great Lakes West) player bats first in the top of the inning, and home team player next (Great Lakes East) in the bottom half of the inning.
  3. Each player will receive 2 minutes, 30 seconds to hit as many home runs as they can during their turn.
  4. Each player will be allowed one timeout that they can take at any time during their 2:30, should they choose.  Timeouts will be thirty seconds in length.
  5.         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 and they take a :30 break.  No timeouts will be granted during the bonus time session.
  6.         The Team that hits the most Home Runs will be declared the NWL Great Lakes HR Challenge Team Champions.
  7.        The Individual who hits the most home runs will be declared the NWL Great Lakes HR Challenge Individual Champion.

The 2023 Northwoods League Great Lakes All-Star Game will take place in Traverse City, Michigan, at Turtle Creek Stadium, home of the Traverse City Pit Spitters on Tuesday, July 25 at 7:05 PM. The game will also air on ESPNU.

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The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Now in its’ 30th season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world 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, over 325 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 World Series Champion Max Scherzer (NYM), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and World Series Champion Chris Sale (BOS). As well as 2019 Rookie of the Year and 2019/2021 Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (NYM) and 2021 All-Star, MLB Gold Glove winner and 2019 Second Team All-MLB shortstop Marcus Semien (TEX). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website at watchnwl.com and on ESPN+. For more information, visit www.northwoodsleague.com or download the Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play.