Fort Wayne slugger picks up home run title

by Cory Butzin

If Midland authorities are looking for the source of all the broken windshields, they need look no further than the corner of State and Buttles.

A host of Midwest League All-Stars, led by home run champion Felix Carrasco of the Fort Wayne Wizards and the Clinton Lumberkings’ Ian Gac, assaulted the roads and parking lots Monday at the 2008 Midwest League Home Run Derby, as they launched one cannon blast after another out of the park to the delight of a packed house at Dow Diamond.

Carrasco and Gac put on a show, with Gac assaulting the roadway and Carrasco the scoreboard in right field, combining for 32 home runs in the first two rounds before Carrasco blasted three in the final round to take the championship.

“It was incredible, and I feel really good,” Carrasco said through an interpreter. “It’s the first time I’ve ever been in this kind of event, a home run derby, and with the victory I’m very happy with it. I’ve had a lot of support from my teammates, and I’ll never forget that.”

Chris Carlson of the Detroit Tigers’ affiliate West Michigan got the show started by blasting six round trippers in the initial stanza. Loons’ catcher Kenley Jansen followed that by bringing the crowd to its feet with eight blasts to right field, one that left the stadium on the fly.

That set the stage for Carrasco and Gac.

Gac came to the plate, and with the wind blowing out to right, he launched eight home runs to left. Four of his shots in the first round left Dow Diamond.

Then it was time for Carrasco to do some yard work, as the Wizards’ slugger came to bat and hit an astounding 11 home runs, two that caromed off the scoreboard in deep right field.

Afterwards, he joked, “I was thinking about hitting 30 home runs… and I was trying to hit it over the scoreboard.”

Three batters later, Brandon Waring of the Dayton Dragons hit seven homers, but that set the stage for the story of the night.

With the last batter of the first round coming to the plate, five thousand fans came to their feet and gave the loudest ovation for Hometown Hitter Champion Kyle O’Boyle of Bullock Creek.

He advanced to the home run derby after beating out several area players in a home run competition, which concluded Saturday with the final round of the Hometown Hitter Contest.

O’Boyle said he battled nerves through his first several swings, but with only a couple outs remaining he connected on a blast to left field that brought the fans out of their seats. He wasn’t done though, as he launched another shot onto Buttles St. to a thunderous roar from the crowd.

“It’s a bit of an adrenaline rush right now,” he said. “It was great, I loved it. There’s nothing like it. After I got a couple outs there, I was like okay man, you got to get one out. Then I got one out and I was happy.”

O’Boyle’s two home runs weren’t good enough to move to the second round, but they were good enough to beat out Sean Coughlin of South Bend, Jonathan Greene of Clinton, and the Loons’ own Andrew Lambo.

In the second round, Carrasco and Gac continued their power show, beating out Carlson, Jansen, and Waring to advance.

“I had a tough season last year with the Loons up here,” Jansen said. “Coming up this year, I feel real good. It’s unreal to me, seriously.”

Gac came to the plate for the final round, but fatigue seemed to finally catch up to him. After hitting 14 round trippers in the first two rounds, fatigue finally started to catch up to him, as he finished with two in the final stanza.

Carrasco stepped in the batters’ box and only needed three outs to blast three shots and become the 2008 Midwest League Home Run Derby Champion.

The All-Star festivities continue Tuesday, with Fanfest beginning at 11 a.m. The All-Star game is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. with Hall of Famer and Dodger great Tommy Lasorda on hand to throw the ceremonial first pitch.

Photos by Dave Williams