READING — Defending champion Kaelyn Larkin couldn’t bear in mind a lot of what the dialog precisely was together with her dad/pitcher as she took a timeout within the remaining spherical of the A Shot For Life Softball Home Run Derby on Sunday at Austin Prep.
The Medfield junior will all the time bear in mind what adopted, although.
Coming again to the plate trailing Taunton’s Ava Venturelli by 10 dwelling runs with 2:33 left on the clock, Larkin cranked out her eleventh homer out of the break with 57 seconds remaining to stroll off the derby with a repeat title. It was her sixteenth dwelling run within the remaining spherical, including to a monstrous 32 blasts she hit to kick issues off within the first spherical of an exhilarating occasion. Venturelli completed with 15 within the remaining spherical for second (64 whole), whereas Nashoba’s Kylie Doherty hit 11 for third (69 whole) and North Attleboro’s Kelly Colleran hit 10 for fourth (68 whole).
Add within the $1,500 Larkin raised to contribute towards the over $80,000 ASFL Baseball and Softball fundraised for most cancers analysis from this occasion, and it was a reasonably candy day for the two-time champ.
“I was trying to win obviously, but I was just happy to be here and come back for a second year,” she stated. “(The conversation) was just use your legs and try to get into a good rhythm. That’s when you get on fire, and that’s what I did. … I just try to have fun and enjoy it.”
As the weekend’s occasions gathered about double the funds of what it estimated final yr, the suspense of the derby didn’t fail to disappoint.
After Phillips Academy’s Kylie Buckley smashed 29 dwelling runs throughout her 4 minutes within the first spherical to realize the No. 2 seed in bracket play, she discovered herself in a slug-fest with Colleran, the No. 7 seed. Her 23 homers would’ve beat half of the semifinalists, however Colleran went nuclear with a derby-best 36 homers, together with 21 in her 26 remaining swings, to advance to the four-player remaining.
That explosion carried over to her membership teammate Doherty later within the spherical, because the Nashoba slugger wanted to beat 30 homers from King Philip’s Libby Walsh. With solely 21 homers and 50 seconds left on the clock, Doherty hammered 10 homers over the subsequent 40 seconds to advance.
“I looked back at the timer and I had 50 seconds left, I was at 20 or something. I said ‘Oh no. OK, let’s go,” she stated. “Being competitive, I wanted to get as far as I can, so it was fun to get to the final.”
As a first-time ASFL athlete, Doherty was particularly honored to play and thrive among the many finest for such an excellent trigger. Cancer touches many in numerous methods, and for her, it took the lifetime of her nice uncle earlier than she may meet him. She was named Kylie after him.
“It was special,” she stated. “It’s for such a good cause, and then to be selected as one of the top hitters in Massachusetts is also really special. It’s just such a good cause, and it hits close to home.”
As anticipated, the remainder of the afternoon was stuffed with loads of pop following the first-ever ASFL Softball Pitcher’s Challenge. Alyssa Edwards (Stoughton) blasted 21 homers within the semi-finals after hitting 23 within the first spherical, just for Venturelli to beat her by way of walk-off with 22 homers in lower than three minutes. That additionally helped Venturelli advance to her first remaining after falling simply quick final yr.
Walsh completed with 54 homers herself, whereas Attleboro’s Lauren Eby smashed 20 within the first spherical earlier than shedding steam within the semifinals.
In all, 21 hitters got here out for the derby, 5 of which additionally participated within the pitcher’s problem. Growth and group is what ASFL founder and CEO Mike Slonina cares a fantastic deal about, and he was happy with how the day formed out.
Source: www.bostonherald.com