Bowen wins Home Run Derby at Northeast

While Midland’s Northeast Little League has hosted the T-Mobile Little League Home Run Derby at Wilson Field in each of the past four years, out-of-towners have stolen the show every time. And Tuesday’s latest edition of the derby was no exception.

Sanford’s Trenton Bowen bettered his total in every round, as he rallied from third place after the opening round, belted 17 dingers in the final round, and finished with a wining total of 43 homers on the evening.

Bowen becomes the fourth derby champion to be crowned at Wilson Field, joining Saginaw’s Zane Rastello (2020), Mount Pleasant’s Aryan Punjabi (2021), and Mount Pleasant’s Jacob Hutchins (2022).

Bowen’s 43 round-trippers were just enough to edge Midland’s Chet Sabin, who finished second with 42.

“Yesterday, watching these kids do a little practice before tonight, I think everyone was pretty much anticipating that it was going to be Chet and Trent (battling it out for the title),” said Northeast LL president Nick Kroll, the derby director. “They didn’t disappoint.”

The derby, which has drawn approximately 40-some participants in each of its first three years, saw an unprecedented 61 entrants on Tuesday. With participation at an all-time high, the first round was contested simultaneously on both the Wilson and Griggs fields in order to expedite the process.

“Just the fact that we had 61 kids here really tells the story of how much it’s become a tradition and how much fun we have with it,” Kroll said. “It’s definitely fun to come out here and watch the big kids take their swings. It’s awesome to see them hit it.”

Kroll noted that participation took a “big jump” this year.

“I don’t know. I honestly don’t know,” he replied when asked about the reason for the spike in participants. “I guess just a lot of kids kind of got into it this year. The majority of kids were from Midland or were Midland County kids, so that was nice.”

This year’s derby featured a significant rules revision. Whereas, previously, hitters were allowed to keep swinging away until they had registered 10 “outs,” i.e., swings that failed to produce a home run, in the new format, each hitter was given the same designated amount of time to hit as many homers as possible.

When the first round concluded, Sabin led the way with 14 homers, while Midland’s Grady Arnold was second with 12, and Bowen was tied with Midland’s Madden Shepardson for third with 10 apiece.

Midland’s Owen MacGregor was fifth with nine homers, while Midland’s Gabe Martin was sixth with eight, Midland’s David Kellerman and Shepherd’s Konnor Brown were tied for seventh with seven each, and Midland’s Owen Preston and Shepherd’s Brant Veale were tied for ninth with six apiece.

In the second round, which trimmed the top 10 down to five, Sabin belted 13 more homers to maintain the lead with 27 total, while Bowen went yard 16 times to pull into second place with 26 total. Shepardson hit 12 to up his total to 22, and Arnold homered eight times to move on with 20 total.

Meanwhile, Veale homered 10 times in the second round to pull even with MacGregor, who hit seven dingers in the second round, at 16 apiece.

Veale then beat MacGregor in a three-swing “swingoff,” solidifying the final five.

Veale went first in the championship round and smacked 14 homers to finish with 30, after which Arnold banged out 13 more to finish at 33. Shepardson went long nine times to finish with 31.

Bowen then stepped to the plate and pounded 17 dingers to move into the lead with 43. Batting last, Sabin collected 15 homers to finish just shy of Bowen’s total and settle for second place.

“Trent just has a good, compact swing,” Kroll said of Bowen. “The reason he really shined there at the end and got better each round is because he was just taking good hacks, and they were short and sweet, and he was able to hit the ball quickly.

“That’s the ticket to the (championship) every year here, it seems like – it’s the kid that can put the bat on the ball and put it over the 170-foot mark the easiest of anybody,” Kroll added.

Bowen now will wait to see if his total of 43 is good enough to qualify for the regional round.

Kroll, who has administered the derby at Northeast in each of its four years, said the vibe is enjoyable each and every year.

“Just everybody at the ballpark — that’s my favorite thing,” he said with a smile. “The camaraderie, the different leagues getting together … whoever it is, everybody is just rooting everybody else on and having fun — that’s what I love about it.”