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A home run chase is exciting enough, especially when players stay within one or two of each other much of the season and play leapfrog at the top of the standings.
When those players are teammates, the chase takes on a whole new level of excitement.
For the first six weeks of the Northeast League season, Bangor players Derry Hammond and Donnie Ross have been engaged in their own version of home run derby.
Hammond, a 6-foot-2 outfielder from West Point, Miss., hasn’t let the unusually cold June weather or the early July rain dampen his home run swing as he currently leads the NEL with 12 home runs.
Donnie Ross, a 6-1 first baseman-designated hitter who hails from Mount Juliet, Tenn., has been breathing down his teammate’s neck much of the season.
“It’s fun. We’re not trying to one-up each other,” said Ross. “It’s great when guys are both going like we are.”
Ross briefly shared the NEL lead with Hammond after hitting his 11th Friday night, but Hammond retook the lead by himself the next day.
“It’s definitely fun to have a couple guys on the same team who can hit it out of here,” the 200-pound Hammond said. “Having two guys right there chasing each other kind of motivates you. When I see him do it, it makes me want to and vice-versa. I think we kind of feed off that.”
Bangor manager Kash Beauchamp may be even more excited about the long-ball contest than his two sluggers are.
“I was saying at batting practice that this is kind of like Maris and Mantle going after each other and that’s good. I keep asking them which is which,” Beauchamp said. “It’s healthy competition and it keeps them motivated. I would love those two to battle it out for the home run title all year.”
Ross, who hit 13 homers during the entire season last year, has regained his home run stroke after discovering a flaw in his vision earlier this year.
“Before the season started, I found out my vision was off a little bit and got contacts,” Ross explained. “Getting that taken care of meant a lot. It’s like night and day.
“I feel pretty comfortable at the plate. I can pick up spin a lot faster than I did before. Before, it was just a blur.”
Dazzling debut
Orrs Island native Mark Rogers, the No. 5 pick in last month’s Major League Baseball amateur draft, made an impressive debut for the Milwaukee Brewers Arizona Rookie League team last week.
Pitching against one of the Kansas City Royals’ affiliates in Phoenix Thursday morning, Rogers struck out five during two scoreless, hitless innings.
He hit one batter, but the only contact made against him was a groundout to shortstop. Rogers threw 30 pitches and started off six of the seven batters he faced with a strike.
Rogers, who won Maine’s Mr. Baseball Award and was Gatorade’s Maine and National High School Player of the Year, signed a contract with the Brewers three weeks ago which earned him a $2.2 million signing bonus.
Rogers, a 6-3 righthander who led Mount Ararat of Topsham to the Eastern Maine Class A title this spring, wears No. 8 in honor of his favorite hockey player, former Boston Bruins star Cam Neely.
One down, three to go
It wasn’t a golden ticket to Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory, but 11-year-old Justin Dumond was just as thrilled as Charlie Bucket when he found a “YOU WIN” message written on the bottom of the Portland Sea Dogs micro-mini logo ball he bought at the park last week.
The North Waterboro fan is the first of four winners in the Sea Dogs’ Win A Day at the Ballpark contest, which allowed him to bring out Portland’s starting lineup card to the umpires, throw the ceremonial first pitch from the mound, and get four free game tickets.
Andrew Neff can be reached at 990-8205, 1-800-310-8600 or at aneff@bangordailynews.net
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