Going, Going, Gone: NECBL Announces HR Derby Contestants

Published on July 19, 2022 under New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) News Release

SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. - The New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) and Commissioner Sean McGrath are excited to announce the participants in the 2022 NECBL Home Run Derby. The Derby will serve as a part of the All-Star Gameday experience on July 24 at The Shark Tank, the home of the Martha's Vineyard Sharks.

The Home Run Derby begins before the All-Star Game at 2:00 p.m. The game itself begins at 4:30 p.m.

This year, the league has fourteen players participating in the Home Run Derby, with each team having a representative. In Round 1, every player has three minutes to hit as many homers as they can without timeouts or stoppages. The top two home run hitters from Round 1 will move on to the Championship Round.

In the Championship Round, the two players will each have four minutes to hit with a thirty-second timeout available. The player with the most bombs in the Championship Round ONLY will be crowned the 2022 NECBL Home Run Derby champion. Homers that were hit in Round 1 will NOT carry over to the Championship Round. In the event of a tie, a one-minute tiebreaker will decide the winner.

2022 Home Run Derby Participants

Ben Huber (Bristol, 1B, Connecticut): The first baseman has one home run this season, coming against Martha's Vineyard on July 8. Huber has also posted five RBIs, ten runs scored, twelve hits and six walks in sixteen games this season.

Harrison Feinberg (Danbury, OF, Southern California): Feinberg leads the Westerners with five homers this season, the most recent coming against the Valley Blue Sox on July 12. The outfielder is slugging .493 in twenty-one games and holds eleven RBIs, twelve runs and a .267 average to his name.

Jackson Ross (Keene, IF/OF, Florida Atlantic): Ross leads the SwampBats and is third in the NECBL with eight bombs this year, his most recent occuring against Martha's Vineyard on July 16. The utility man has two multi-homer games. Ross hit two home runs against Winnipesaukee on two separate occasions. He leads Keene with a .306 average, thirty RBIs (ranks third in the league), twenty-two runs and fourteen walks in thirty-one games.

Ryan Nicholson (Martha's Vineyard, 1B, Cincinnati): Nicholson has one homer this season, a three-run bomb in an 8-6 win against Sanford on July 9. The first baseman has nineteen hits, ten runs scored and eleven RBIs in twenty-two games.

Charlie Pagliarini (Mystic, INF, Fairfield): Pagliarini is tied for the Schooners home run lead with three on the season. The infielder's last homer proved to be the difference in a 6-5 Mystic win over Ocean State on July 12. He has posted eighteen RBIs, eighteen hits and eighteen walks in thirty-two games with the Schooners.

Colton Ledbetter (Newport, OF, Mississippi St): Ledbetter is tied for the NECBL lead with ten home runs. The outfielder has two back-to-back home run days, the first coming on June 13 and 14 against the Sharks. His most recent homer streak was in Ledbetter's last two games on July 15 against Danbury and July 16 versus Valley. He leads Newport in virtually every category, with a .368 average, thirty-seven RBIs (ranks second in the league), thirty-two runs and twenty-two walks in thirty-three games.

Cedric Rose (North Adams, 1B, Massachusetts Lowell): Rose leads the SteepleCats with four homers this season, most recently against Bristol on July 14. He is also tied for the team lead with sixteen RBIs. The first baseman has a .283 batting average, nineteen runs and ten walks in thirty games.

Nathan Blasick (North Shore, OF, West Virginia): Blasick leads the Navigators with two homers. His most recent bomb came in a three-RBI effort against Upper Valley on July 10. Blasick is tied for the team lead with sixteen RBIs and has posted a .241 average with eight runs, seven doubles and sixteen walks in twenty-eight games.

Dan Baruch (Ocean State, OF, Boston College): Baruch has three bombs this season, the most recent against Martha's Vineyard on July 14. He has a .471 slugging percentage, ten RBIs, eleven hits and eight runs in sixteen games with the Waves.

Quinn McDaniel (Sanford, 2B, Maine): McDaniel leads the Mainers with six home runs this year, his most recent coming against Vermont on July 17. The second baseman also leads Sanford with twenty-eight RBIs. He has posted a .315 average with twenty-six runs and eighteen walks in thirty-three games.

Ryan Ignoffo (Upper Valley, 3B, Eastern Illinois): Ignoffo is tied for the NECBL lead with ten bombs this season. His most recent home run came in his last game on July 17 against Ocean State. He had a two-homer outing against North Adams on June 19. Ignoffo leads the league with forty-three RBIs and has a .370 average, twenty-four runs and nine doubles in thirty-one games.

Sam Franco (Valley, OF, Purdue): Franco is tied for the Valley lead with three homers, all coming in a seven-game period. His most recent bomb lifted the Blue Sox over the Mystic Schooners in a 4-3 win on June 21. Franco has eleven RBIs, twenty-four hits and sixteen runs in twenty-seven games.

Stephen Ditomaso (Vermont, OF, George Washington): Ditomaso is tied for the Vermont lead with three home runs, the most recent coming in an 8-3 win over Mystic on July 13. He is second on the Mountaineers with twenty RBIs and has twenty-eight hits and twenty-two runs in twenty-eight games.

Jacob Corson (Winnipesaukee, OF, Bucknell): Corson is tied for second on the Muskrats with two homers this season. Both were solo shots, the most recent during 6-1 win over Danbury on July 11. Corson leads the NECBL with a .407 batting average, has seventeen RBIs, nineteen runs and thirteen doubles in just twenty-five games.

The NECBL All-Star Game and Home Run Derby provide a platform to showcase the league's top talent in an exciting afternoon and evening. Players participating will be able to make their mark in front of scouts from every Major League Baseball (MLB) organization. For more information about the All-Star game, click here.

Tickets for the event are $5 for kids, $10 for general admission and $15 for the reserved grandstand.

The 2022 All-Star Game and Home Run Derby will also be streamed live on the NECBL Network.

New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from July 19, 2022

• Vermont Power's Past North Adams, 12-4 - Vermont Mountaineers
• Going, Going, Gone: NECBL Announces HR Derby Contestants - NECBL

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