Third baseman Travis Flores from Desert Ridge High School in Mesa, Arizona won the 2010 edition of the Power Showcase High School Home Run Derby at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida on January 10th. He succeeded Christian Walker, who had won the derby a year ago. Flores, who will attend Arizona State University, hit eight homeruns during the championship round with the longest traveling a distance of 471ft. Overall he hit 17 homeruns.
Flores beat out Dante Bichette Jr. (FL), the son of the big leaguer who hit 40 homeruns in 1995 for the Colorado Rockies, in the finals. Bichette Jr. hit seven homeruns in the championship round and led all participants with 20 homeruns overall. He went deep 13 times in the first round, including four in a row. DJ Peterson (AZ) came in third with six homeruns. Cole Gleason (AZ) and Thomas Zengle (NJ) (both with five homeruns in the finals) also reached the finals. Travis Harrison (CA) set a new distance record with 504ft. In 2009 heralded future round-one draft pick Bryce Harper had set a record with 502ft.
The lone European player in the event was corner infielder Frantisek Vasourek of the Czech club AVG Draci Brno. The 18-year-old had to settle with one 383ft. homerun. Nevertheless the experience was priceless since he was able to hit at the home field of the 2008 American League champion Tampa Bay Rays. The weekend also included a tour and batting practice at the New York Yankees Spring Training facilities in Tampa. Vasourek was the sixth European player to take part in the Homerun Derby after Chris Howard (GER), Paolino Ambrosino (ITA), Mike Bazuin (NED), Matej Sucha (CZE) and Robin Drache (GER).
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April 10, 2010 | 2:49 pm
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